WAVES
Special Features: 2025 Oscar® Selection, Czech Republic
[VLNY]
Czechoslovakia, circa 1968. Young Tomáš is assigned to work as a technician in the International Editorial Office of Czechoslovak Radio, a newsroom filled with progressive, passionate and talented individuals committed to reporting the truth to their listeners. When his younger brother’s revolutionary activities are discovered by the State Security, Tomáš is coerced into spying on his new colleagues to protect his family — all while Alexander Dubček’s banner of liberalization via “socialism with a human face” takes the country by storm. That is, until the Warsaw Pact is triggered and the Soviet Union invades, forcing Tomáš to determine where his allegiance lies. Written and directed by Jiří Mádl, WAVES is a taut historical thriller that features an impeccable ensemble cast and won the Audience Award at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Its climactic depiction of the Warsaw Pact invasion is a technical achievement, as Mádl weaves archival footage with his own to create a sobering account of this traumatic event in Czechoslovakian history. –Javier Chavez
DIR/SCR Jiří Mádl; PROD Monika Kristlová. Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2024, color, 131 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 131 Minutes
Opening Date: Sunday, December 15, 2024
Genre: Drama
