Karlovy Vary Goodbye

It is summer of 1938, in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary. 

Life for the Dusek family – and their six-year-old son Jan – has been stable, unhurried, and full of promise.

But times are changing. An idyllic childhood gives way to impending invasion and looming war. Jan’s parents choose to leave everything behind, to face an uncertain future.

A following vivid and hazardous journey across Europe is often seen by Jan as an adventure rather than a danger. The family settle in England just two weeks before the start of World War Two, ready to put the past behind them as they build a new life in a new land.

It is summer of 2019, as Jan returns to Karlovy for the first time in 80 years.

An International Film Festival is in progress. How much more has the world changed? What remains the same? What other timeless and terrible challenges will bring about further immigration, settlement and belonging? Can the only strengthening shield be the power of love?