Boat Number Five

A fierce, unapologetic eye captures the universal quest for connection in post-communist Eastern Europe. Emotionally neglected by her immature, promiscuous mother and forced to care for her cantankerous dying grandmother, twelve-year-old Jarka is left to fend for herself in the social vacuum of a post-communist concrete jungle in Bratislava. She spends her days roaming the streets and daydreaming in the only place she feels truly safe: a small garden inherited from her grandfather. One day, stopping at a suburban railway station, she impulsively abducts twin babies. Teetering on the edge of disaster, Jarka struggles to care for the children, and in the process, begins to discover herself. Boat Number Five—which was adapted into an award-winning Slovak film—brilliantly captures the ache and emptiness of a fractured society.