Skip to main content
Island of Freedom film image, director Petr Januschka

Island of Freedom

Ostrov svobody

North American Premiere

It’s 1981 in Czechoslovakia, and a young man surprisingly reunites with his teen love on board a charter flight to Cuba. A delightful romantic period piece that captures their growing reconnection perfectly as well as the mood of the time under communist rule. With every answer, glimpse, or unintended touch, their old bond comes alive again, but little do they know that soon, they will be facing what might be the most difficult decision of their lives. Great period details, a smart script, and wonderful performances by the two leads make this little trip just zip along. One set, two seats, two people. In essence, that is what this film is, but it packs a lot into the container. Thought-provoking with a complicated ending.

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Jiří Mádl, Judit Bárdos, Gustav Řezníček, Tereza Dočkalová, Viktória Pejkov, Aneta Klimešová, Julie Stříbrná

Credits
Country of Origin

Czech Republic

Year

2022

Language

In Czech and Slovak with English subtitles

Film Contact
27 min

Featured in:

Island of Freedom film image, director Petr Januschka

International Shorts: Connect/Disconnect/Reconnect

The films in this shorts program are all about connections. People connecting with one another, dealing with change, or rediscovering a part of themselves and their past.

 

MORE INFO

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Silence

Dir. Martin Scorsese
141 min

This sober, probing examination of faith, ego, cruelty and compassion is the most underrated film from the often under-valued latter half of Martin Scorsese's brilliant career; a passion project, about Catholic missionaries in 17th Century Japan.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Last Breath

Dir. Costa-Gavras
100 min

At the age of 91 the revered filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Z) has made a gentle, curious, hopeful film about life on a palliative ward.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Souleymane's Story

Dir. Boris Lojkine
92 min

Exhausted by the grueling grind of the Parisian gig economy and hopping between homeless shelters, Guinean immigrant Souleymane races against time to prepare for his asylum interview. An angry, tender film which is as gripping as any thriller.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Hard Eight

Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
101 min

Anderson's debut is a deceptively modest character piece about a veteran gambler (Philip Baker Hall) who takes a much younger man under his wing and teaches him how to play the system and win. Until things take a darker turn...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Boogie Nights

Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
155 min

Being the rise and fall of a prodigiously-endowed performer on the seventies porno scene. Paul Thomas Anderson's flamboyant 1997 calling card movie revels in the wild success of xxxcess, before crashing to earth with a bump.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Last Class

Dir. Elliot Kirschner
72 min

Economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich embarks on what will be his last year teaching at Berkeley. What can he impart to the latest generation to inspire and empower them for the grievous challenges ahead?

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Producer

František eF. Horvát

Screenwriter

Petr Januschka

Cinematography

Filip Blažek

Editor

Josef Erla

Original Music

dné

Art Director

Alojz Vyšlan

Director

Petr Januschka headshot, Island of Freedom director

Petr Januschka

Petr Januschka is a Czech director and screenwriter who studied at Tomas Bata University in Zlin. His student shorts earned him several international awards and were screened in Brussels, Cottbus, and Beirut. Most notable is his tragicomic documentary The Last Prior (2017), about the remnants of socialist culture in Czech Republic. Januschka is currently a PhD student at Tomas Bata University and also works as a commercial director. He has received two Effie Awards for his commercial work.