The Gardener's Year

Czech Republic 2024 / 104 min. / directed by Jiří Havelka / 12+ / DonArt

A gardener (Oldřich Kaiser) and his wife tend their small nursery at the foot of a picturesque hill. Their quiet life is disrupted when a new castle owner arrives with plans to reshape the landscape - and the nursery stands in his way. A series of bizarre events unfolds: barbed-wire fences, blocked access roads, and mounting pressure for the gardener to surrender. But he refuses to give in.

When the police and the mayor become entangled in bureaucracy, the gardener takes matters into his own hands. Havelka's new film balances on the edge of the absurd and tragicomedy, inspired by a true story and Karel Čapek's novel of the same name.