Films:
Sat 24 6.15pm The Courtyard Hereford
Sun 25 2.30pm Ludlow Assembly Rooms
The City of the Sun (15)
Director: Martin Sulik
Starring: Oldrich Navratil, Ivan Martinka, Lubos Kostleny
Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2005, 1 hour 35 minutes, subtitles
The story of four unemployed friends who are laid off when their factory is privatised; together they buy a lorry and soon find themselves getting into all sorts of scrapes trying to make ends meet. The characters of the four are strongly drawn and acted, the impact of the brave new capitalist world is clearly shown - traditional values of solidarity and morality are early casualties - but their camaraderie survives. This is a mix of quirky humour and tough drama, like The Full Monty remade by Ken Loach, shot through with a typically Czech sense of irony.
Winner of two Czech Lions (the Czech BAFTAs) in 2006.