HBO Europe’s Czech spy drama The Sleepers (Bez vědomi) will have its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, with the first two episodes screening in the Special Events section at the 54th annual edition (June 28 – July 6).

Set in the milieu of the secret service at the end of the 80’s in Czechoslovakia and London, the six-part series is directed by Ivan Zacharias (Wasteland) and written by debut TV screenwriter Ondrej Gabriel. Tatiana Pauhofová (Burning Bush) leads an international cast which includes Hattie Morahan (Beauty and the Beast) and David Nykl (Stargate), alongside Martin Myšička, Martin Hofmann, Jan Vlasák, Kristýna Podzimková, Lenka Vlasáková, Petr Lněnička and Martin Huba.

Marie (Pauhofová) and her political dissident husband Viktor (Myšička) fled Communist Czechoslovakia 12 years ago. Now it is 1989, change is in the air and they take advantage of an amnesty to return to their home country. But soon after they arrive they are hit by a car: when Marie wakes her husband has disappeared, and nobody seems to know anything about him. Where is Viktor? Is he still alive? Come what may Marie must find him. In a state that still clearly considers Viktor an enemy, and a country that she no longer understands and that doesn’t understand her, Marie confronts the biggest challenge of her life.

Set against the backdrop of the turbulent political changes that swept across Czechoslovakia, The Sleepers is planned for an autumn 2019 premiere across HBO Europe territories, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that brought about the fall of the communist regime.

Producers for HBO Europe are Tereza Polachova and Steve Matthews. It was produced in collaboration with ETAMP film.

The Sleepers is the latest Czech series from HBO Europe following the acclaimed Wasteland, directed by Ivan Zachariáš, and Agnieszka Holland’s multi award-winning Burning Bush.