Night Owls

Ofka is stuck in a strange torpor: while the majority of her school friends have continued with their studies, she refuses to leave the delusory comfort of her childhood which is, however, rapidly beginning to stifle her. She works the night shift at a 24-hour convenience store owned by her brother-in-law Eda, and lets the snatches of conversation wash over her, as regulars and casual customers come in with their tales of wasted lives, along with distant friends who, like her, are awake when the rest of the city sleeps. She occasionally escapes to have a drink with her friends on the banks of the Vltava, and she roams the streets with the oddball Ubr who, apart from being hopelessly in love with her, has a fascination for the contents of garbage cans. Ofka tries to avoid Míra who has left her. But it’s becoming increasingly obvious to her that, one day, she’ll have to leave her childhood behind, cross the boundaries of the neighbourhood where she was born, and get on with her life.