"Hey, Prague—you got punk'd! In this subversive Central European slice of reality TV, Czech film students Vitt Klusak and Filip Remunda protest the kudzu creep of globalization with a stunt worthy of the Yes Men." (Village Voice) Using a government grant, they set out to advertise a new hypermart that promises outrageously low prices and every product imaginable under one roof. "They borrowed Hugo Boss wardrobes, commissioned an ad agency, and recorded commercials complete with a Celine Dion-worthy ballad, all without the slightest intention of ever building or opening a store. On one level, this is an altogether obvious lesson about market capitalism. Of course you can motivate people to buy or want useless (or even nonexistent) products. We all know that by now. Perhaps by accident, Klusak and Remunda's prank becomes an examination of the Czech soul—and, I guess, everybody's—a generation after the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, now that the values of the market have saturated the entire earth. When thousands of people show up for the "grand opening" of Cesky Sen (literally, "The Czech Dream"), which turns out to be a plastic facade erected on bare scaffolding in a suburban meadow, only a few of them are genuinely angry. One man points out that he's a fisherman, so he's used to waiting around for nothing. Some are fatalistic: You can always fool the Czechs, they say, we're a bunch of idiots eager for bargains. One older couple seems delighted. We needed to get out of the house, they tell the camera. And it's a beautiful day! We can have a picnic." (Salon.com) more at ceskatelevize.cz DVCam projection
2007, color, 1 hour 30 minutes, Czech Republic