Jan Čtvrtník

New husband Adam reluctantly takes a job with state security in a totalitarian country, thus becoming a secret police agent. This "contract with the devil" helps secure a flat for the happy couple, as well as a prosperous future. However, he soon finds out that he too is under surveillance.

Thursday morning, Jerusalem. Nira goes to work. Ahmad in London does the same, Ralf in Cologne and a priest in Prague too. Matija, Croat, goes to work as well. Ok, he doesn't, but he acts as if he does. Ahmad is taking his routine red bus journey. Out-of-breath young man comes in and interrupts it. Schoolteacher Nira is also interrupted - her pupil jumps out and performs a love rap song he wrote for her. The priest in Prague doesn't feel like singing today, he is in the mood for (over)sleeping instead. Someone falls asleep, someone else - Ralf - falls in love. All five mentioned above are listening to the top-news about the disappearance of bees. And trying their best, each one of them in his or her own 'hive': Zagreb, Jerusalem, London, Cologne, Prague...

The Defenestration of Prague, which took place on May 23, 1618, was the decisive historical moment that unleashed the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) between several Catholic and Protestant states and changed the course of European history forever. (Additionally released as a heavely edited historical documentary entitled The Defenestration of Prague, 85 min.)

Slovak musicologist Agata Schindlerová, now settled in Dresden, has spent years mapping out the forgotten destinies of Jewish musicians whose lives were irrevocably marked by the advance of nazism. Scenes from the lives of several of them are portrayed in the film In Silence (ballet dancer Alice Flachová, pianist and conductor Karol Ebert, composer, conductor and director of the Dresden Theatre Arthur Chitz, pianist Edith Kraus, and the vocal ensemble Comedian Harmonists), which draws a sharp contrast between the protagonists’ carefree existence working and making music during the pre-war era and the subsequent severe upheaval in their lives brought on by the proliferation of nazism.

This cinematic reportage with elements of a personal journal explores xenophobia in Czech society and anti-Nazi activists, but also the filmmaker’s personal experience from living among in an socially excluded Romani neighborhood. Most of the footage was shot by the director using his own camera, and the immediacy of the images is further accentuated by voiceover observations and commentary. In just a few scenes, he adds music for dramatic affect. With his direct questions, he tries to unmask the racist arguments not only of anti-Roma protestors, but also of many ordinary citizens.

A documentary that breaks the taboo surrounding sexual assistance for people with disabilities and offers a sensitive insight into the intimate lives of people with disabilities.