Indian and the Nurse

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2006, 90 min
IP – International premiere
Section: East of the West - Films in Competition

Synopsis

Two different worlds intersect when two young people from a small South Bohemian town fall in love. František works in a sawmill and is drawn towards a community of “white Indians”. Marie, a modern Romany girl, works as a nurse in the local hospital. Her entire family are looking forward to the day she marries the successful Romany businessman Martin. Except that, one evening, Marie meets František at a beer stand and she betrays her “tribe”. Their relationship not only has to face various banal prejudices and aversions, but it also demonstrates the strength of atavistic “tribal” solidarity, whether within the Romany community, the alternative league of “white Indians” or the majority society. The lovers find themselves caught between the people around them, their families and their friends, and also their own doubts. Can a relationship like this have a happy ending? This love drama is the feature debut of documentarist Dan Wlodarczyk, whose work until now has chiefly focused on the theme of minorities.

About the director

Dan Wlodarczyk (b. 1967, České Budějovice) studied at Charles University’s Philosophical Faculty, and then at FAMU, Dept. of Documentary Film. As a director he has made 11 documentary films, two medium-length features, 13 music clips and over 50 commercials. His documentaries focus in particular on minorities and social sub-cultures, such as anarchists, skinheads, graffiti artists, monks etc. Documentaries (selection): Blind Man’s Buff (Hra na slepou bábu, 1989), Angels and Guardians (1990), King Danube’s Last Journey (Poslední jízda krále Dunaje, 1992), Grass (Tráva, 1993), The Novices (Novicové, 1994), Bulldog Boys (1996), Indonesia (Indonésie, 1998), Jumping Well and Jumping Mad (Skáču dobře, skáču rád, 2003). Indian and the Nurse is his feature-length debut.