Alive and Well in Prague

After setting the scene in Prague, the characters are introduced in their natural setting. Stefan, an American, has just made his first film, a porn feature, and is looking to sell it in the open market. Francis, an English teacher, is also harbouring a potentially lethal drink problem. Todd, a Californian actor, outlines what it is to be a struggling actor in the city. Ruth, also an English teacher, depicts the long-term effects of staying in a society so different from the one she grew up in. Over the course of time, each follows their own path, from one of them achieving relative stability, to another succumbing to chronic alcoholicism. In the meantime, we gain an insight into the Czech mentality, how it differs and is similar to our own, and we see how even living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world can have a dark side. We conclude with a status update of each character.

The work started as a project at FAMU, on which the director Pavel Koutecky consulted before his untimely death, and grew into a full length feature as it became obvious that here were four very separate but compelling stories to be told. Filming on a shoestring budget, before high definition cameras were mainstream, and without microphones to preserve reality as much as possible, the director filmed all the material personally, before spending 3 months assembling a rough cut on his editing equipment.