Heart Above the Castle

A neon heart installed above Prague Castle illuminated the city for the last three months of Václav Havels presidency in an artists tribute to his extraordinary service His last major undertaking was hosting the NATO summit in 2002 and Němec was granted extraordinary access to film it Set to make a special poetic film it took Němec years to process what he had witnessed George W Bush creating an alliance to invade Iraq It may then be the directors revenge to point his camera lens democratically at everyone involved with the summit giving the same screen time to kitchen and waiting staff musicians security detail and NATO protesters as to the heads of states and attending dignitaries Havel however became as much of a subject as the president on screen and the films narrator providing commentary in his own voice from the distance of a few years after he left the office