12/11/2024 - Halloween might be over, but Tomáš Hlaváček's Ji.hlava winner takes its audience straight to the house of horrors

Tomáš Hlaváček’s The Impossibility, named Best Documentary of the Czech Joy section at the 2024 Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, world-premiered on Halloween, which proved to be perfect timing since the film takes its audience straight into a house of horrors. 

At first, the place that the filmmaker presents to us doesn’t look all that scary – it is just another building somewhere in the Czech Republic, past its glory and full of rental apartments. But once you go in, beware: it’s filthy, nothing really works and, if you dare complain, you might be left without hot water for days. This is real terror. 

Hlaváček, who opened up about the emotional cost of making participatory documentaries while speaking at the festival, follows many people in this film, from the residents of these apartments to activists who are trying to help them, as well as the owner, clearly committed to playing the villain, who keeps smiling while people around him cry. By doing so, the director also demonstrates that, sometimes, it isn't that difficult to show the reality of someone’s situation – all you need to do is come inside. And yet, as is so often the case in this world, nobody really cares about this truth. The people living in such conditions don’t have that many options – many landlords wouldn’t want them as tenants, let alone neighbours. Desperate for a lodging, these people might agree to “additional charges” and shady contracts, completely unaware that they have any rights at all. Worse still, there are so many others like them, in so many other buildings, still signing these contracts and still keeping quiet, because anything seems better than homelessness.

The film demonstrates that while fighting for things to improve is rightful, people do have things to lose. Nobody wants to end up without a roof over their children’s head, so this fight has to be a cautious one, especially since the walls have ears. If you stick out too much, if you are too loud, you will be left with no electricity – even though the bill has been paid – and many cockroaches. 

It's implied here that racism plays a part in this relentless abuse, which is often directed at Roma women, but it isn't the only factor. Indeed, Kuncovka residents aren’t wealthy and they’re not always employed. It’s a simple mechanism: if society keeps saying you aren’t worth much, you start to believe it. You don’t ask yourself why you’re not living in a normal flat, without bugs crawling behind the wallpaper, since apparently, that’s the best you can get. “Show them you’re not afraid,” they hear. But they are, and they have been for a very long time. They know that in this place, you get punished sometimes just for “being cheeky,” and winter is coming. 

Hlaváček doesn’t exploit their situation and thankfully doesn’t go for “poverty porn,” an approach sadly still very popular in European arthouse cinema. Instead, he shows that people care for their homes, whatever they might look like. They still yell “You didn’t take your shoes off!” when someone enters and take pride in their elaborate laundry routine. Dignity is sometimes something you have to work for, and they do, but there’s only so much they can take. 

The Impossibility could work better as a mini-series than a feature film, since it is quite repetitive, but this repetition gets to the very essence of this conflict. People complain, then they hear that “police can’t solve this.” They talk to the press or welcome activists into their home, so naturally someone switches off their electricity again. It is maddening and frustrating to see them go through this cycle again and again, and Hlaváček is honest – people in power usually stay in power, and if you manage to send them away, they bounce back rather quickly. Hollywood endings don’t really happen in these kinds of buildings. Still, realising you can fight for yourself or your community also counts for something. 

The Impossibility was produced by Martin Kohout for GPO Platform.