Broken Voices

“Broken Voices” is a coming-of-age drama set in early 1990s Prague, following thirteen-year-old Karolína as she earns a coveted place in a world-famous girls’ choir — joining her older sister among a cohort of fiercely driven young talents. When Karolína’s voice draws the attention of the admired and enigmatic choirmaster, his favoritism feels, at first, like a hard-won triumph. But as his attention deepens into something more troubling, the distinction between privilege and exploitation begins to unravel.

Inspired by the real-world Bambini di Praga case, the film examines the dynamics of power, ambition, and institutional silence with unflinching care. It neither sensationalizes nor looks away, tracing instead the interior landscape of a girl navigating resentment from peers and her sister, misplaced trust in an authority figure, and the slow, painful education of understanding what has been done to her.

Kateřina Falbrová delivers a performance of striking restraint and depth as Karolína — capturing the way a child can simultaneously understand too much and not enough. Her work earned a Special Jury Mention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where the film also took home the Europa Cinemas Label Award.