The 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival (August 6-16) will screen a Czech fiction feature Secret Delivery in the Locarno Kids section, continuing the festival’s focus on cinema for younger audiences that combines artistic ambition with accessible storytelling. The Czech film directed by Ján Sebechlebský is a historical family film set during the final weeks of World War II, following a group of children who attempt to help a wounded French pilot cross the occupied borderlands of the Giant Mountains. In addition, Locarno Kids section will welcome a Czech minority co-production, a family adventure Pixie. The New Beginning by Polish director Krzysztof Komander, which follows eleven-year-old Hania as she sets out to prove the existence of forest pixies in order to preserve a fantasy world once shared with her late mother.

Secret Delivery and Pixie. The New Beginning follow last year’s Czech presence in the Locarno Kids section, where Kristina Dufková´s Living Large and Klemen Dvornik´s Block 5 were screened. Living Large, puppet-animated film addresses the teenage body image, had already won the Contrechamp Jury Award at Annecy and went on to screen at the Shanghai and Karlovy Vary festivals among many other festivals. Slovenian Block 5, made in Czech co-production, about a girl trying to protect a playground from redevelopment also travelled the festival circuit with focus on youth cinema.

Wartime through children´s eyes

Set in February 1945 in the Czech border village of Smrčí, Secret Delivery centers on 11-year-old Jíra (Theodor Schaefer) and his German friend Jochen (Jakub Král), who find an injured Black French pilot Pierre (Jean-Thierry d’Almeida), in a snowy forest. Rather than alerting the adults, the children form an improvised rescue chain, transporting Pierre from village to village in a hay cart. The film’s structure mimics the mechanics of a "telephone game," with each child acting as a temporary link in the rescue mission.

Sebechlebský frames the film not as a traditional wartime drama but as a children’s story about moral clarity and quiet resistance. “It’s a story about empathy, rebellion, joy, courage, and hope at a time when survival sometimes depended on luck alone,” he explains. The film situates moral agency with children, reframing resistance as an instinctive, human gesture. The children’s initiative contrasts sharply with the cautious or fearful behaviour of many adults around them.

Secret Delivery draws inspiration from a novella by the late Czech writer and political prisoner Jiří Stránský. The screenplay was co-written by his daughter, Klára Formanová, and Sebechlebský. While the story is fictional, it reflects real events and moral dilemmas faced by civilians under occupation. Pierre is loosely modeled on Roger Sauvage, a Black fighter pilot from the Normandie-Niemen squadron. His presence introduces racial and cultural difference into a rural, monoethnic context shaped by both Nazi ideology and local dynamics of fear and complicity.

Sebechlebský views Pierre’s appearance not only as a plot device but as a thematic element. “In the context of Nazi racial ideology, Pierre’s presence in Czech village highlights the universality of human suffering and the need to help one another,” he explains. The children, unfamiliar with anyone like Pierre, initially respond with hesitation, but soon act based on a shared sense of vulnerability and care. This encounter becomes a lesson in empathy and personal courage, a theme the director sees as resonant in the current moment, when children across Europe are again exposed to the realities of war and forced displacement.

The geography of rescue

Visually, the film makes extensive use of natural winter settings and low-lit interiors. Cinematographer Martin Štrba (Charlatan, A Prominent Patient) relied on kerosene lighting and the ambient conditions of the Giant Mountains to underscore the film’s restrained visual style. “Darkness and shadows symbolize fear and uncertainty,” Štrba notes. “But in the context of the ‘secret message,’ darkness also becomes an ally for the children, hiding them and allowing them to act.”

Sebechlebský emphasizes movement as a central element of the film’s formal design, both in terms of the children’s physical journey and the camera’s mobility. Motion, he suggests, symbolizes vitality and the resilience of childhood in contrast to the paralysis brought by war. The sound design reinforces this, with foreign languages rendered as unfamiliar soundscapes that gradually become intelligible through shared experience, reflecting the children’s evolving relationship with Pierre. The film unfolds in the Sudetenland, during the waning months of the German occupation. Adult characters in the film reflect varied wartime behaviors: some remain silent to shield their families; others cooperate with the authorities. 

The film also engages with the historical tensions between Czech and German communities, adding a layer of local specificity to the story about solidarity and moral agency. This dimension is particularly embodied in the relationship between Jíra and Jochen, which foregrounds trust across cultural lines under duress.

Production synergies across Central Europe

The film is produced by Julietta Sichel of Prague-based 8Heads Productions and Silvia Panáková of Slovakia’s Arina. 8Heads Productions focuses on director-driven films and series with international potential. The company has produced titles that have screened at major festivals including Busan, Montreal, Karlovy Vary, and Sarajevo. In recent years, 8Heads Productions has expanded into content for children and youth, notably with Tomáš Polenský´s coming-of-age drama The Pack which was sold to over 15 territories and became one of the most-viewed Czech films on local streaming platforms.

Secret Delivery avoids the conventions of traditional wartime dramas and instead adopts a tone closer to adventure cinema, integrating suspense and quiet humor without undermining the gravity of its subject. “The film uses historical elements more as background,” Sichel explains. “Its main appeal lies in its adventure and suspense. That shift made it a unique entry in the local film landscape.”

Secret Delivery is a large-scale production by Central European standards, involving period vehicles, practical effects, and historically accurate set design while more than 600 children auditioned for the film.  “This film wouldn’t have been possible without multilayered financial support from all three co-producing countries,” Sichel says. “It’s a case study in collaborative Central European production.” International sales are managed by Italian sales agent Coccinelle Film Sales. 

The Czech Audiovisual Fund, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, the National Recovery Plan, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, the Film Center of Serbia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia supported the film. The project was co-financed by the European Union and supported through the EU’s Next Generation funding initiative. VFX and postproduction were completed in Prague, Belgrade, and Bratislava.

Finding magic, facing change

Also screening in the Locarno Kids section is Pixie. The New Beginning, a Czech minority co-production directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Komander. The film follows eleven-year-old Hania as she struggles to adjust to a new town after the death of her mother. When her classmates take a cherished locket that once belonged to her, Hania sets out to retrieve it by proving the existence of forest pixies, creatures tied to a fantasy world she shared with her mother. With help from Michał, a reluctant schoolmate and young inventor, she discovers a real pixie named Sindri and embarks on a journey filled with humour, risk, and emotional insight. Mixing adventure with themes of grief, belonging, and friendship, Pixie presents a modern take on family storytelling.

The Czech involvement is represented by producers Viktor Tauš of HEAVEN'S GATE and Michal Sikora of Lonely Production, who co-produced the film alongside Polish production company Green Rat Production. Tauš and Sikora have collaborated previously on Viktor Tauš´s sprawling auteur project Girl America, where Sikora served as co-producer and executive producer. Their participation reinforces the Czech Republic’s engagement in regional family-oriented cinema and reflects a broader strategy of cross-border collaboration.

The cast of Pixie features Amelia Golda and Maksymilian Zieliński in the lead roles, with supporting performances by Arkadiusz Jakubik, Anna Smołowik, Wojciech Solarz, and Agata Turkot. The film is set for release in 2025, with Polish distribution handled by NEXT FILM. Supported by the Polish Film Institute and the Czech Audiovisual Fund (the film received 72 900 EUR from the minority co-production scheme), Pixie. The New Beginning adds a contemporary fantasy story to Locarno’s youth-focused line-up, offering a story that speaks to the emotional lives of children facing change, loss, and the power of belief.