Valentýna Janů presents a short poetic experimental film titled Flowers Between Two Fires, a work fascinated by the subtlety of color. The film’s three scenes are interwoven by recurring motifs, most notably the presence of flowers, which appear in different forms — as backdrops, clothing patterns, props, or metaphorical elements.

In the opening scene, a news anchor is forced to deliver a TV segment while walking home through a blooming park. The middle part of the film shows a strange encounter between a couple in a museum, where the backdrop of a war painting triggers a shift in their dynamic. The final scene unfolds on a stage, featuring a dancer embodying a weary swan — unable to decide how their story should end. Swan Lake, the ballet performed around the world, is known for its ambiguous ending. Some productions resolve it as a fairytale, others as a tragic tale of love and betrayal.

Janů plays with the central theme of the dilemma, caused by rigid boundaries between dualities such as private/public, individual/global, performance/authenticity, or hope/skepticism. The film suggests that these binaries may be mere simplifications — artificial human constructs, illusions that pressure us to define and judge the world quickly as either good or bad. False impressions and disillusionment haunt our attempts to objectively grasp both global and personal issues — challenges that feel nearly unsolvable in today’s post-media age.

The film was created as part of the group project The Flower Union on the occasion of Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. http://flowerunion.eu/