Synopsis Handsome young Andre arrives in a remote mountain village for his new teaching post at the local elementary school. Under the tight rule of the school Principal, Andre is surprised to discover that the only item on his first teacher meeting agenda is assignment of a political slogan for each class. Between "UP WITH REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT" and "AMERICAN IMPERIALISM IS ONLY A PAPER TIGER", Andre catches on that shorter slogans are preferable. In a physically demanding task, the teachers and young students must form the letters with rocks on neighbouring hillsides.
This "political duty" dictates life in the village towards ironic and unexpected results. Among them, a love story between Andre and pretty French teacher, Diana. Under the paranoid probing eyes of the local Party Secretary, the simplest rumours and rivalries of the quaint village become comically misinterpreted. With preparations underway for the upcoming arrival of an important Party dignitary’s motorcade, the absurd reality of life under the late 1970s Albanian dictatorship shows its true face.
Festival selections |