Broken Voices

Ondrej Provaznik's 2025 Czech film is set in the early nineties. A gifted young girl is admitted to a world-renowned girls' choir in which her older sister already sings. The choirmaster notices her voice and begins paying her particular attention. The film constructs abuse not as an event but as a process. Privilege, jealousy, silent consent and the institution's reflex to protect its reputation are worked through step by step. The girl herself cannot name what is happening for a long time, and the film carries that uncertainty at its most uncomfortable. The screenplay was inspired by what took place in the Bambini di Praga choir. The cast combines professional actors with actual choir members. The film screened at Karlovy Vary and won the Czech critics' award for best film. Who it's for: those able to watch drama about institutional abuse. Who it's not for: viewers who need to avoid a narrative of sexual abuse of a minor; the film places it at its centre.