Wasteland (Czech TV series)

Wasteland (Czech: Pustina) is a Czech television series, which premiered in October 2016 on HBO Europe.[1] Created by Štěpán Hulík, the series stars Zuzana Stivinova as the mayor of a small Czech town which is being bought up and razed by a coal mining company, leading to conflict between residents who want to preserve their traditional life and those who want to take the money and build a better life elsewhere. She loses a referendum allowing the mine to expand, in contravention of a 1991 law limiting brown coal mining in North Bohemia. At the same time, her daughter disappears, and what appears to be an attempt to silence her opposition to the coal mines suggests even deeper layers of political intrigue.[2]

Wasteland
Created by	Štěpán Hulík
Directed by	Alice Nellis Ivan Zachariáš
Starring	Zuzana Stivínová Jaroslav Dušek Eva Holubová Petra Špalková
Music by	David Boulter
Country of origin	Czech Republic
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	HBO Europe
Original release	October 2016 (2016-10)

Filming locations include Jezeří Chateau, an historic site almost entirely surrounded by surface mines.[3]

The cast also includes Jaroslav Dušek, Zuzana Stivínová, Eva Holubová and Petra Špalková. Ivan Zachariáš, the Czech-born director, chose to cast amateurs alongside the professional actors, in order to heighten the eight-part series' realism.[4]

The first two episodes of the series had an advance screening at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July 2016,[5] and in the Primetime program at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.[6]