Hating

Ondřej Šálek’s time-lapse documentary captures an escalating street battle between pro-Russian activists at a petition stall in Prague’s Klárov district and a group of liberal-minded citizens who have decided to take justice into their own hands. Footage from live streams and first-hand observations reveal verbal and physical altercations and the growing radicalisation of both camps. This unsettling account of the forms taken by civil resistance in a sharply polarised society does not adopt the perspective of either side. An impartial observation of the actions and counter-actions shows how easily a sense of threat and the desire to belong to a particular community can escalate into aggression.