Up and Down

Two smugglers realise after dropping off the migrants they brought across the border that a baby has been left in the van. They sell the baby to a couple who run an illegal adoption business, and those two try to sell the child on to Miluška and František, who cannot have children of their own. Another story runs in the same city: a man who left the country years ago comes back to Prague to face the family he left behind. Jan Hřebejk's film, written with Petr Jarchovský, is built on migration, fear of foreigners and racism in post-communist Czechia, and it does that with black comedy rather than sermons. The reactions the baby's skin provokes are the artery of the story. The film took four prizes at the 2004 Czech Lion awards, including best film, best director and best screenplay, and was nominated in twelve categories.