North American Premiere

The chance discovery of a found object makes for a lost holiday and vaults two Czech filmmakers into starring roles in their own unintended tale of international intrigue. Director Lucie Králová and friends are tourists traveling in Sweden when they find a discarded suitcase in a dumpster. When opened, the suitcase reveals 22 rolls of undeveloped film, and a real-life detective story begins. The film is developed into hundreds of images starring six Asian men, seemingly on a business trip. Or is it? The filmmakers resolve to meet the men in the images, and the ensuing search is a bizarre journey that tests the limits of global connectivity.

With the filmmakers cleverly fashioning themselves as international detectives, LOST HOLIDAY is part documentary and part performance piece. The men in the photos are also performers,  showcasing their interests through the odd moments they choose to capture. They pose in front of monuments and in repose in beds of golden flowers.  The filmmakers carefully scrutinize each photo and gesture, wondering if they are businessmen in a mundane trade, government spies in search of international military secrets, or just bad dressers on holiday.

They begin their search by staging an exhibition of the photographs in a Prague gallery.
Next, they seek input from friends and people on the street. Strangers who read of their search in international newspapers offer advice and misdirection. Finally, the story airs on Chinese television to an audience of hundreds of millions.  What happens next provides the final clue in this double-entendred tale of loss and discovery.

—Giovanna Chesler