The common denominator of the five stories, preceded by a brief prologue by Artem Benki, is the setting of a giant open-pit mine in the Podkrušnohoří region in northwestern Bohemia and its surroundings, including the dominant feature of the landscape, the ruined Jezeří Castle.
Bohuslav Ličman
Blind Jirka (segment "Prolog")
Milan Červeňák
Gejza (segment "Kulaté ruiny" and "Zvláštní příležitost")
Michal Pavlata
Gejza (segment "Kulaté ruiny") (voice)
Stanislav Fišer
Miner (segement "Kulaté ruiny") (voice)
Karel Krejčí
(segment "Poslední Vánoce mého domu")
Mirko Musil
Karel (segment "Zvláštní příležitost")
Jakub Wehrenberg
Ecologist (segment "Zvláštní příležitost")
Daniel Heyna Větrovský
Reporter (segment "Zvláštní příležitost")
Ivan Gübel
Vašek (segment "Zvláštní příležitost")
The common denominator of the five stories, preceded by a brief prologue by Artem Benki, is the setting of a giant open-pit mine in the Podkrušnohoří region in northwestern Bohemia and its surroundings, including the dominant feature of the landscape, the ruined Jezeří Castle.
A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.
Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Drama telling the story of Blue, a young man of Jamaican descent living in Brixton in 1980, as he hangs out with his friends, fronts a dub sound system, loses his job, struggles with family problems and has his friendships tested by racism.