Liberland

A high-society event, guests in suits, a stilted atmosphere. Vít Jedlička extols the virtues of Liberland – a self-proclaimed micro-nation – and wishes to develop its economic, touristic and legal affairs. For all that, the place is crowned with a certain abstraction, since it is impossible to get there. The Liberland hymn is struck up during the evening. Between nationalistic lyricism and soap opera, this musical tune seems tinged with artifice. This introduction already contains the ambiguous tonality of a dark irony. The film navigates the shores of the Danube, along its lush and sandy banks. Several characters, including two communists, attempt to reach this imaginary country to enjoy an ultra-liberal territory “without an army, without police” or to prove its paradoxes. The film brings to mind the Serbian cinema of Emir Kusturica, and his eccentric characters obsessed with profit until they topple into farce. It is a matter of men’s duplicity, as they take advantage of European border tensions and contemporary conflicts to build an imaginary and corrupt empire, with a solid dose of bitterness.

William Le Personnic