I GUESS WE'LL MEET IN THE EUROCAMP

A small Czech village is divided into three rival groups: the firemen, the hunters, the sportsmen. The groups eye each other suspiciously, but all three face the same problem: a lack of new blood. The hard-working village youngsters lack spare time for community activities. This documentary explores the reasons behind the radical disintegration of this village’s once so intact social life, and the subtle humour it displays was inspired by Miloš Forman’s HORÍ, MÁ PANENKO / THE FIREMEN’S BALL. We are shown a mayor who automatically gets re-elected although nobody seems satisfied with his achievements. The activities of local social clubs leave him cold. His sights are set on higher things: a glorious future thanks to organized cultural exchange with Western Europe. His most notable success to date is the EU-funded Eurocamp leisure centre that appeared outside the village almost overnight. Nobody can pinpoint just when things started to go wrong, but the onset of the village’s problems seems to have coincided with the opening of the camp. The local pub closed down shortly afterwards, but the Eurocamp never took its place – it’s too far for people to walk. The filmmaker’s investigations finally bring about a meeting of the leaders of the three separate groups, who embark upon a concerted effort to win back the village. The film slowly but determinedly elaborates its theme. What initially appears to be a study in folklore soon turns into a parable on the dangers of strictly segregated social activities, on people conveniently overlooked by the attorneys of progress, on social structures crumbling in the course of economic transformation – and on communities robbed of their lifeblood by the shopping malls built on their doorsteps.