17-05-2013

ScripTeast 2013 at Cannes Retro Paradise

    Slovak scriptwriters Katarina Uhrova competes for the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award during the 2013 Cannes IFF with Retro Paradise, the story of a teen whose parents send him on holiday back to the era of socialism.

     

    Synopsis:

    Adam (16) is EMO addicted to Internet, perpetually suffering and feeling as the most unhappy creature on Earth. In fact he is not that unfortunate, he just can't find his way in the world and compensates it with self-pity. His parents want to confront him with reality so they send him to do a summer job in his aunt's hotel.

    Only on arrival Adam finds out the hotel offers a "retro holiday", an imitation of the holiday in Czechoslovakia during socialistic era. The holidaymakers, mostly the elderly, came here for nostalgic reasons to relive their youth, when they had the best time of their lives. For the hotel owner, Maja, it's the opportunity to succeed and earn money.

    Adam expected a boring summer job, but instead of that he experiences the socialistic way of life. He gradually discovers he doesn't have to work hard or express his opinions, which is just the opposite of what his modern capitalist parents want him to do. He even sets up his own black market business with the holiday makers. When he starts to enjoy it here, he gets into conflict with Maja, whose idea of having fun is far more different from his.

    Comedy about a kid's first reality check and the clash of generations. Parents want their children to be good people. But what kind of role models are they for them?

    Commentary about the script:

    During the ScripTeast adventure my project turned from drama to a comedy. I sometimes cried while writing it but gradually left my EMO tendencies for the main character of the story. Thank to the guidance of great advisors and the support of dear participants I not only learnt so much new about scriptwriting but also discovered that working rocks far more than self - pitying.