EFF: Waves

Vlny

Australian Premiere

“Jiří Mádl’s drama on the end of the Prague Spring marks a timely portrait of the power of principled journalists.” – Variety

Set in 1968 during the lead-up to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, an international news radio station unwittingly becomes the last bastion against the authoritarianism that threatens to envelop the country. When we meet Tomáš he has just started working at the station, witnessing first-hand how the team of dedicated journalists fight to retain their autonomy against the rising wave of state-sanctioned censorship and intimidation. Meanwhile, Tomáš younger brother Pavel takes to the streets to protest in an increasingly hostile environment. Soon the two brothers find themselves in the crosshairs of history in dangerous flux.

Jirí Mádl’s propulsive historical drama plays out like a classic spy thriller as loyalties are tested and betrayed, and a race against the clock to avoid incarceration – or worse – gives this compelling and thought-provoking drama its narrative drive.

Festivals & Awards

Winner of the Audience Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2024
Academy Awards – Czech Republic's submission for the Best International Feature Film

Rating

Unclassified 18+

Duration

131 min

Country

Czech Republic, Slovakia

Language

Czech, Slovak, French, Italian, Russian (English Subtitles)

Director

Jirí Mádl