When 13-year-old Karolina is chosen to be part of the main lineup of an acclaimed children’s choir — quickly becoming the choirmaster’s favourite — it draws unwanted attention and envy from the other pupils, including her sister. Decamping to the mountains for an intensive boot camp, dynamics in the group start to really shift.
Based on a real-life story that took the Czech Republic by storm, this gutting account of a grave abuse of power delves deep into the sinister tactics used by predators. Director Ondřej Provazník mindfully shifts attention away from sensationalism to build a complex narrative where ambition, drive, innocence, and manipulation collide. Supported by a lush period mise-en-scène, compelling ensemble performance and hauntingly angelic choir sequences, the evocative landscape and deceptive sense of ease serve as a chilling backdrop to the enabling environment.
Kateřina Falbrová, Juraj Loj, Maya Kintera, Zuzana Šulajová, Marek Cisovský, Ivana Wojtylová
Czech Republic/Slovakia
2025
In Czech with English subtitles
Depiction of grooming and sexual assault
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Jiří Konečný, Ivan Ostrochovský
Screenwriter
Ondřej Provazník
Cinematography
Lukáš Milota
Editor
Anna Johnson Ryndová
Production Design
Irena Hradecká
Original Music
Pjoni, Aid Kid
Ondřej Provazník
Ondřej Provazník was born in Prague, where he studied journalism at Charles University and scriptwriting at FAMU. Together with fellow director Martin Dušek, he co-directed two successful feature documentaries, A Town Called Hermitage (2007) and Coal in the Soul (2010), and in 2019, the pair released their feature-length fiction debut, Old-Timers. That film won the 2019 Czech Film Critics’ Awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor, and the Best World Cinema Award at the 2020 Phoenix Film Festival, among other recognitions. In 2025, his solo feature debut Broken Voices premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Filmography: Coal in the Soul (2010); Old-Timers (2019)
Photo by Kristýna Dvořáčková
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Blue Trail
77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.
Two Prosecutors
In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.
Image: © SBS Productions
Calle Málaga
Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Krystle dos Santos + Dawn Pemberton: Meet Me at Vie's + Union Street
Enjoy a sneak preview of Krystle dos Santos's upcoming musical celebration of the Hogan's Alley Black community in Strathcona, with songs performed by Krystle and Dawn Pemberton, followed by Jamila Pomeroy's documentary Union Street.
