The Dynamite Watcher

Three separate short stories by Jan Drda from the collection The Dumb Barricade: The Dynamite Watchman, Hatred and Traces.

A Sentença

The Art In Anguish

Josh Thomas is an artist grieving the loss of his wife, channelling inner turmoil into art. When presented with an opportunity, Josh must decide whether he’s selling art or his emotions.

Samuel

After a family tragedy, Samuel develops severe agoraphobia and OCD. We follow him as he tries to navigate his solitary life and overcome his crippling illnesses.

body

The film follows an introverted 20-year-old girl, Duna Canet, as she leads a seemingly normal life. Yet, at its roots she is trapped and consumed by an eating disorder that refuses to accept. In as little as a day, the struggle unravels to the point where she hits rock bottom and sets out on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

Frenchy

Bethany and Sam are friends with a brewing romance that is long overdue. With the making of a student film together over Halloween, this romance becomes realised. However, with this new proximity to Sam, Bethany begins to peel away the layers of a potentially very troubled person.

Monkey or Man

When a circus trio have a particularly disastrous show, Mandy the Acrobat must decide whether to run away from the circus, or to stay and help her friends.

In the Box

A character is inside a cubical room; there is a hole in the roof, which is too high to reach. But pushing on the walls distorts the room in various ways, always appearing to bring the hole closer while still leaving it tantalizingly inaccessible.

The Night of the Agama

Prague, night station in winter. Radka with a small daughter, a suitcase on wheels and a sports bag get off the bus. Luděk slowly walks back home through the streets of the same city, knowing that no one is waiting for him. A few hours before dawn, the initially purposeful intersection of lonely destinies can resemble a family. A Night with Agama is about the meeting of people who are dependent on the help of others, yet have to help themselves first and foremost.

Lúcido

The Tower of Babble

Three different scenarios, intercut, all using the same words but with very different meanings. A corrupt cop is more interested in the money on the criminals he catches than justice; a young woman discovers she's pregnant, and her boyfriend is unfeeling; and a young man calls a prostitute it's the first time for both, and neither can go through with it. Ultimately, all the stories come together.

Blues for Herold

A struggling young man secretly plays a magical trumpet that transports him from his desolate world into a colorful "bliss." When his younger brother discovers his secret, their relationship is put in jeopardy.

Shoegazer

What happens when a bartender on a mission to find her cheating boyfriend gets stuck driving a drunk high-schooler home? Trans Am, emergency room, strip club, showdown, vomit, sunrise. Yeah.

New Dogs

Mark, an independent loner, is asked to pretend to be his late twin brother. Before long, he experiences what it is like to be a father, and learns to love it. But how long can happiness built on lies last?

Julian

Julian is a short film about a girl named Anna who is struggling with moving on from an abusive relationship. She enters in a therapy program where she does therapeutic exercises to confront the past and move forward.

Switched Shifts

A story about a girl, a foreign worker employed at a printing house. A boy and several men long for the girl, but they do not meet even the girl’s low demands. Her current boyfriend (and superior) is cheating on her, her new admirer at work is currently homeless, and the third man is probably a liar.

Symfonie

Little Martin would like to run outside with other children, but he is afraid that they will make fun of him because of his visual impairment. So he spends most of his time alone at home with his magical character Francis, who helps him discover the world. One day, a ball falls over the fence of Martin's house. The boy is afraid to return it to the children on the street...

To Zombie... Or Not to Zombie

A Hamlet-inspired tale of two sisters running their late mother's business. When one sister has a run-in with her (presumed to be dead) mother, chaos ensues.

Poutníci

A Boy And His Car

Playing hooky from school, Tony, a student/chorister at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, spends the afternoon at Central Park's Sailboat lake and retrieves a remote control device left behind by a pair of sailboat racers. Back in the schoolyard, Tony pretends that he has a car to go with the remote control. When another boy tries to take the control from him, it falls on the ground and a red remote-control sports car miraculously appears. The car "dances" to rap music and even brings Tony a can of soda. One day, a sinister-looking man with a briefcase steals the car and flees into the subway. Tony and his classmates pursue the thief to the Wall Street area and ask to inspect the briefcases of passing businessmen. Eluding the students, the crook hails a taxi and hurls the briefcase from the window. Next morning, Tony hears the sound of a sports car during a church service. Returning to its rightful owner, the magical car mysteriously reappears at the end of the processional.