Czech Dream, 2004
Czech Dream(Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda, 2004)
Film students Filip Remunda and Vit Klusak planned the ultimate marketing stunt: drum up excitement and customers for the non-existent Czech Dream, “the superstore for a better life!” An elaborate ad campaign, complete with flyers for in-house brand products, a theme song, website, and clever TV ads, deluged Prague with promos for the fake megamarket, as the latest in ironic come-ons dare customers: Don’t Go, Don’t Rush, Don’t Spend. It’s clear they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams when thousands turn out for the grand opening, pumped up to shop. But after the filmmakers cut the ceremonial ribbon, the crowd rushes across the empty meadow only to discover that the store of their dreams is nothing but a façade. A provocative and darkly funny documentary about a consumer hoax on the grandest of scales, and a biting take on consumer culture and its seductive power, Czech Dream is gadfly filmmaking in the tradition of Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) and Michael Moore (Farenheit 9/11). A critic’s pick across the board, it “may well be the funniest European film of the year” (Economist). In Czech, with English subtitles. Special thanks to Petra Klobusiakova and the Embassy of the Czech Republic (Ottawa) for making available this 35mm print.
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Runtime: 87
Directors: Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda |
Czech Dream, 2004
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Czech Dream(Vit Klusak and Filip Remunda, 2004)
Film students Filip Remunda and Vit Klusak planned the ultimate marketing stunt: drum up excitement and customers for the non-existent Czech Dream, “the superstore for a better life!” An elaborate ad campaign, complete with flyers for in-house brand products, a theme song, website, and clever TV ads, deluged Prague with promos for the fake megamarket, as the latest in ironic come-ons dare customers: Don’t Go, Don’t Rush, Don’t Spend. It’s clear they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams when thousands turn out for the grand opening, pumped up to shop. But after the filmmakers cut the ceremonial ribbon, the crowd rushes across the empty meadow only to discover that the store of their dreams is nothing but a façade. A provocative and darkly funny documentary about a consumer hoax on the grandest of scales, and a biting take on consumer culture and its seductive power, Czech Dream is gadfly filmmaking in the tradition of Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) and Michael Moore (Farenheit 9/11). A critic’s pick across the board, it “may well be the funniest European film of the year” (Economist). In Czech, with English subtitles. Special thanks to Petra Klobusiakova and the Embassy of the Czech Republic (Ottawa) for making available this 35mm print.