The Sun in a Net

Preceding the mid-60s vanguard known as the Czech New Wave, the second film by Slovakian director Stefan Uher did much to push the boundaries of acceptable Socialist Realism. The episodic narrative follows Fajolo (Marian Bielik) and Bela (Jana Belakova), a casual teenage couple at the end of the school year. As Fajolo heads to a mandatory work-camp for the summer, Bela grapples with the claustrophobia of her tense family life. As their lives overlap despite their separation, an existential portrait of this particular time begins to emerge.

Part of Special Program: Creative Freedom Through Cinema

Making Waves continues its special program about the relationship between arts and politics, focusing on film as a propaganda tool and inviting the Czech Republic and Slovakia to join in the conversation. Special screenings of landmark films by Dan Pita, Mircea Veroiu, Stefan Uher and Jiri Menzel will be accompanied by a panel. Presented in partnership with the Romanian National Film Center, Czech Center New York and the Slovak Film Institute, with the leading support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding.