Rebellious by nature, 19-year-old Daniel (Daniel Krejcík) is an outsider amongst his classmates. He has no friends, parents who can never seem to stop fighting, and he’s facing final exams with few prospects that excite him after graduation. He’s expecting nothing but disappointment for at least the next several years of his life.

His gym teacher Adam (Jiří Vojta) is by all outward appearances perfect. But he doesn’t talk about his personal life, preferring to keep his privacy while at school. This comes as a source of frustration to his long-term partner David, who wishes Adam wouldn’t be quite so guarded. 

Content to be alone, Daniel isn’t exactly thrilled to be joining in an end-of-term class camping trip. But even he couldn’t have anticipated how bad things could get. When he wanders off the path to pee, he trips and plunges terrifyingly into a crevasse, finding himself trapped in a massive network of underground caves deep in the Czech wilderness. 

Adam goes to look for him, only to end up taking the very same plunge. Things don’t look good, and as hours turn into days, they face an increasingly desperate situation. With supplies dwindling and no idea if rescue is on the way, they must work together to find a way out.

The debut feature film from director Roman Němec, Where Butterflies Don’t Fly is a most unexpected coming-of-age story. Filled with heightened emotions and life-or-death situations, the filmmaker wrings every bit of tension out of his claustrophobic locations. 

Trapped and forced to depend on each other for their very survival, Daniel and Adam form a bond of necessity, and soon learn that allies (or maybe even friends) can sometimes come from the most unexpected of places.

~ Adam Lubitow

Jury Award, Outstanding Artistic Achievement: FilmOut San Diego

Official Selection: Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival

Official Selection: Melbourne Queer Film Festival