Vladimir 518

First documentary about the Czech hip hop scene shows how close the Czech rap can come to humour and irony. Three protagonists of the film, James Cole, Hugo Toxxx and Orion appear in situations where they are confronted with a professor of linguistics, children of a Romany quarter, a strict birth registry clerk, classical music trio, a statute of national revival hero Josef Jungmann, and the chanson singer Hana Hegerova, with whom they have a chance to sing the national anthem: "mimino mi mele nohu máma mele maso a máma mele sele kde domov můj?"

Vladimir 518, uncompromising rapper, artist, stage designer and activist, is a rare phenomenon, who not only writes books, but publishes them as well. Today also a respected authority primarily on pre-1989 architecture, he has written not only a major publication on the subject, but also the story for two audiovisual works treating the same theme, which were shot by Jan Zajíček, renowned director of music videos. In addition to the recent TV series we have the eagerly anticipated feature-length film which, through its fascinating and impressive exploration of Czech and Slovak architecture of the latter half of the 20th century, offers exclusive insight into extraordinary buildings and unique individuals living below the Tatra Mountains. Karel Och (kviff.com)