Background
New Czech Cinema is flourishing. Following the Velvet Revolution of late 1989 in Prague - the equivalent of the Fall of the Wall in Berlin - a group of talented young filmmakers spurred a Czech film revival that has yet to peak. By general consensus, the films that confirm the diversity of this Czech New Wave are Jan Sverak's Kolya (1997 Oscar winner), Petr Zelenka's Buttoners (1999 Rotterdam Tiger Award), Sasha Gedeon's Return of the Idiot (1999 Venice entry), and Jan Hrebejk’s Cozy Dens (1999 box office hit). Generally speaking, these directors are successful because their films deal thematically with problems facing the younger generation or with past events placed in proper historical perspective.
The index of national recognition and commercial success is the “Golden Kingfisher,” awarded each April at the Pilsen festival. Petr Zelenka, a graduate of the scriptwriting department at the Prague Film School (FAMU), won it in 1997 for Mnaga - Happy End and in 1998 for Buttoners - in both instances it was Zelenka’s flair as a sharp, witty, sophisticated writer-director that won him accolades of praise. Mnaga - Happy End amuses by catching the uninformed audience unawares: is this an authentic fiction documentary about a popular rock band with a new sound, or has everything been faked with a run of subtly improvised interviews? Likewise, Buttoners blends the absurd with the tragic in a set of six intertwined short stories locked in a time warp.
When approached to direct an Erotic Tale, Petr’s response was typical Zelenka: “Okay with me - but since you’ve got enough erotic ones, let’s do something philosophic
erotic …” The result was Powers - a neatly constructed, highly polished Erotic Tale about a magician at a nightclub who is suddenly endowed with “powers” he can’t control at the dawn of the new millennium.


Synopsis
Peter has a dream job. He’s a popular magician in a posh Prague nightclub, whose act draws more applause than the strippers. He’s got an eye-catching assistant who is ready and willing to cuddle his frayed nerves whenever necessary. But he’s also got Sylvia on his neck: a pert, scatterbrained sister who forgets that a toss in the hay may just be worth a wedding ring. Things take a turn for the better – or worse? – when he discovers he possesses extra - let’s say, supernatural – powers that enable him to see into the future, hear music by rubbing his finger over a CD, and God knows what. The problem? Peter can’t control anything any more like he used to – neither his magic act, nor his love life, nor his sister’s latest erotic fantasy.