When the War Comes

Peter Švrček is a well-dressed, self-confident young man who believes that what his generation lacks is leadership. That’s why he organises very special weekend activities in the Slovakian forests. With a few like-minded people, he has created the Slovenskí Branci, the ‘Slovak Recruits’, which offer young locals paramilitary training and a hierarchical group structure. In order not to be declared a prohibited organisation, the group decided to forgo an official founding event. Švrček is the born leader, a man who always manages to remain calm and polite and, as slippery as an eel, knows how to wriggle himself out of tricky situations. But his friends are fully aware that, when it comes to liberalism and Slovakia’s current state authorities, he has nothing but a weary smile. (Berlinale)