Directors: Vít Klusák, Filip Remunda,
Czech Republic, 90min
On selected release
“Hypermarkets make us feel great,” says an average-looking mother in this unusual documentary. “I took my daughter to the country and she hated it so much we had to take her to a late night Tesco to calm down.” In the past five years some 125 shopping malls have been built in the Czech Republic, where many people suffer from the newly named “hypermarketomania” — a morbid fascination with hypermarkets.
The makers of Czech Dream seek insight into the manipulative world of advertising by creating an ad campaign for a hypermarket that doesn’t exist. We see them dally with arrogant ad executives. We watch them wait for the opening of “Czech Dream — the Hypermarket for a better life!” And we cringe as 4,000 would-be shoppers turn up to discover that the shopping experience of their dreams is nothing but a huge plastic hoarding in a field. This film sparked 195 articles in the Czech press and provoked fierce government debate. It is a riot.
Advertisement
Chris Sullivan