Country and year of production SR, 2000 Director Kirchhoff Robert Screenplay Kirchhoff Robert Director of photography Kollár Martin Film editor Varga Roman Language Slovak/English subtitles

Robert Kirchhoff, 2.4. 2000: The title “Open Windows” is a metaphor for the opportunity of young and talented Slovaks to leave the confines of their own home and venture abroad. Aside from carrying certain economic advantages, emigration presents them with the freedom to choose a desired workplace within a competitive environment. They prefer western Europe and the United States, as these countries value their abilities the most, and provide favorable conditions for achieving career success. Young people depart Slovakia out of a desire for a more comfortable and problem-free life. Many of them are disillusioned by their country’s development, that is increasingly affected by the unfavorable political situation. The shared values of a common state comprised of Czechs and Slovaks reinforced by the fresh experience of the “Velvet revolution” no longer apply. Many Slovak graduates of Czech universities have responded to this fact by staying in the Czech Republic after the split. For this reason, the film Open Windows was shot entirely in Prague. Prague’s role as the previously shared capital that has turned into a foreign city for many young Slovaks is paradoxical. This paradox plays a pivotal role in the film. The majority of young people, however do not consider themselves to be emigrants. They consider Prague to be an extension of their home country. The filming was done primarily in the Prague metro, a place where the inhabitants of Prague meet on their anonymous trips to work, meetings, shopping centers, and home. The metro was selected in order to portray the subjects in the most accurate and realistic manner. Despite their unique life stories and differing motives for departure, these young people share the experience of being a Slovak living in Prague right after the break-up of Czechoslovakia. Their answers to questions of whether they still consider the Czech Republic their homeland, provides an insight into their relation to the country in which they have decided to live and at the same time reveals their relation to Slovakia, the country in which they were born.