is a five-part TV series about secondary-school pupil Danny Smiricky, who is regarded as girl-crazy in the small town where he lives. He is very innocent and shy, a typical anti-hero. Danny plays tenor sax in a student jazz band, but during World War Two jazz is banned in Moravia and Bohemia, territories under German ‘protection’. This lack of freedom makes Danny feel thwarted in his endeavours – music and love. However he doesn’t give up. On the contrary he fights for his dreams and defies his fate with youthful vitality and characteristic irony, to ask in every episode: ‘Shall I find love this time?’ comprises striking musical moments; not surprising as the actors are conservatoire students. The writer of the book on which the series is based, Josef Skvorecky, is well know and loved in his homeland. He left Czechoslovakia in 1968 and emigrated to Canada, His autobiographical book Prima sezona is written with great self-mockery and humour. The festival is screening the second episode of the TV series, Oh Maytime Witch!.
