A New Shift / Nová šichta
Czech Republic 2020
Directed by Jindřich Andrš, documentary, 91 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Written by Jindřich Andrš
Tomáš lives in the industrial city of Ostrava. His life as a miner follows the daily routine of work-pub-bed. Then, one day, the mine where he has worked for over 20 years closes. Tomáš has to pluck up the courage to make some radical changes. After completing a tough retraining course in programming, he discovers that the ability to write a functional computer programme is not enough. The real challenge is to sell himself on the job market.
Filled with keenly observed social detail, plenty of empathy for its protagonist and the refreshing humour of the social underdog, A New Shift tells the gripping real-life story of what it takes to switch from blue to white collar work.
The film was presented at Dok Leipzig 2020, Ji.hlava IDFF 2020, Visions du Réel 2021 and many other festivals.