A little girl and a socialist orphanage. It is a strict children’s institution. How to overcome fears, insecurity and loneliness? To do this, the girl creates another self to talk to and argue with. And, of course, the dream of America where everything is beautiful and good. Where her father lives and waits for her. A girl and her foster family. There’s plenty of everything, but it doesn’t feel right. Emma’s trials don’t end there. Again and again, she must find the strength to hope, the stamina to live.

Viktor Tauš has created his own system of cinematographic signs in this film. It’s fine if the viewer doesn’t understand all the visual nuances of each scene, which the author uses to create meaning in the film. Emotion is the main thing that gets to the heart of the viewer. The authors do not tell us a straightforward story, they do not offer social realism. It is a deep drama, but it is steeped in the emotionally rich images of the reality and fantasy of Emma’s emotional memory. This is without doubt an exceptional film in the Czech auteur cinema.

Mihkel Möölman