ON YOUR MARKS!

Czech Republic, Slovakia | 2021 | 79 min. | DoP: Denisa Buranová | director: Mária Pinčíková | screenplay: Jakub Medvecký, Mária Pinčíková

Young gymnast Radek carries the weight of his Sokol brothers on his shoulders in the human pyramid, as well as the pressures of growing up. He’s drowning in maths at school too. But Sokols help each other, so seasoned trainer Mirek tutors Radek. For Mirek, quadratic equations are just a warm-up for a far greater challenge: coordinating arrangements for the International Sokol Festival. The first Sokols are already gathering, and both shy Radek and maverick Mirek, alongside 15,000 other gymnasts and organisers, get caught in a whirlwind of bureaucratic chaos, with events reflecting both the ethos of the Sokol brotherhood and a sizeable part of the Czech temperament.