I, Olga Hepnarova

Normalization-era Prague, July 10, 1973. A 22-year-old woman by the name of Olga Hepnarová borrows a Praga truck and heads for the tram stop at Strossmayer Square. Once there, she steps on the gas and slams into a group of 30 people, killing eight. She later admits to the mass murder, explaining that she was punishing a heartless society for tormenting her. Two years later she was hanged, the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia. Just as she had wanted. In their debut picture, without glossing over the guilt for a brutal crime, directors Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda focus in on several key years and moments in the life of a lonely person. The dark and dispassionate drama, composed in part from long, carefully constructed shots, features a powerful performance by Polish actress Michalina Olszańska, whose Hepnarová is just as inscrutable as her act. Premiered at Berlin, this black-and-white film is one of the strongest Czech entries of the year.