SHIRLEY

SHIRLEY
Poland, Czech Republic | HDD, Color, 118’ | German, Czech
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Cast: Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj

The movie is based on the real life story of a born healer named Jan Mikolášek in 1930s Czechoslovakia. He is a figure who has diagnosed and healed thousands of patients without a care whether they are poor or rich, by looking at their urine, and using the herbs he has grown. His patients include influential Germans during the Nazi occupation to communist officers, and even the prime minister Antonín Zápotocký. One of the most influential names in European cinema, the Polish director Agnieszka Holland, portrays the life of Mikolášek, the man some refer to as the “charlatan” and his love for another man in this fragile and complex film. Following its world premiere in Berlin, Charlatan became the Oscar nominee from Czech Republic.