presents BURNING BUSH A Film by Agnieszka Holland 2013 / Czech Republic / in Czech with English subtitles / Color A Kino Lorber Release from Kino Lorber, Inc. 333 West 39 St., Suite 503 New York, NY 10018 (212) 629-6880 Publicity Contact: Rodrigo Brandão –
[email protected] Matt Barry –
[email protected] SHORT SYNOPSIS The three-part drama, directed by the Polish director Agnieszka Holland, is HBO Europe’s most ambitious, big-budget project to date. The film returns to a pivotal time in modern Czech history, ignored in Czech cinema until now. It begins with a reconstruction of the shocking act of a Czech university student, who in protest of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, set himself on fire in Prague’s Wenceslas Square on January 16, 1969, and died four days later. Through the story of the brave defense attorney Dagmar Burešová, who defended Palach’s legacy in a doomed lawsuit, the film examines the transformations taking place in Czechoslovak society after the invasion of the armies of the Warsaw Pact in August of 1968 and the installation of a hardline Communist government. It depicts the beginnings of Czech and Slovak resistance against the occupation, which reached its apex with the mass protests during Palach’s funeral. It also shows the nation’s gradual resignation under the pressure of fear and harsher persecution. LONG SYNOPSIS Part I On the 16th of January1969 on Wenceslas Square in Prague, a young student sets himself on fire in front of dozens of passers-by. Police Major Jireš (Ivan Trojan) investigates the circumstances of Palach’s actions.