synopsis
In the 1980s, dozens of Namibian children were brought up in socialist Czechoslovakia. The aim of this special education program was to raise a new generation of children as a politically conscious elite. But the experiment ended in the early 1990s following fundamental political changes in both countries. The children were forcibly repatriated back to Namibia where they were unable to adapt culturally due to never having completed their elementary education nor receiving any formal language and psychological training. Documentary filmmakers tracked down the now-adult Namibian children and followed their fates both in Namibia and in the Czech Republic over the course of three years.
“No one has the right to take away their childhood and crush their dreams. No matter the time period, country, culture, or ideology in which it happens – it's just plain criminal.”
biography
Martin Müller is the head of Audiovisual Production at Palacký University Olomouc. He studied film and theatre at Palacký University Olomouc. He worked for Czech Television as a programmer before later working for Studio Velehrad Olomouc. He made his feature debut with the film
The Borders of a Shadow (1996) and is the auteur of a number of social advertisements and made-for-TV documentaries.
more about film
| director: | Martin Müller |
| producer: | Daniel Kunz, Lenka Poláková |
| script: | Kateřina Mildnerová |
| photography: | Radim Kaller, Dan Tyrlík |
| editing: | Tomáš Doruška |
| sound: | Karel Vaněk |
Info
| director: | Martin Müller |
| original title: | ČERNÍ ČEŠI |
| country: | Czech Republic |
| year: | 2022 |
| running time: | 65 min. |
