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

Humane

Caitlin Cronenberg's debut feature is a dystopian black comedy about a family gathering from which no one will emerge with much credit -- that is, if they emerge at all...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Ru

At ten, Tinh and her family are forced to flee Vietnam and eventually find refuge in wintery but welcoming Quebec. A lyrical, warm adaptation of the award-winning novel by Kim Thúy.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Perfect Days

Widely acclaimed as Wim Wenders' best (fiction) film since his glory days in the 1980s, Perfect Days is a humanist character study, steeped in the director's admiration for the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

The Taste of Things

Set in France in 1885, and photographed like an Impressionist painting, this sublime foodie film surveys the intuitive, intimate partnership between famed gourmand Dodin (Benoit Magimel) and his beloved cook Eugénie (Juliette Binoche).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Love Lies Bleeding

A pumped Kristen Stewart is our touchstone in this sexily sinister queer neo noir from Rose Glass (Saint Maud).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Drive-Away Dolls

Lesbian lovers Jamie and Marian (Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathen) take off on a roadtrip to Tallahassee, only to find a suitcase full of trouble in the back of their rental car... Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke queer the caper comedy.

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.