A most unusual film festival is coming to a most appropriate location next month as Film Fest Naruby (which translates to something like Inside Out Film Fest) clogs the drains at Prague’s Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubeneč from June 9-10, 2023.
Weeks ahead of the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic’s UNESCO-recognized spa town, you can see some of the worst movies ever made at Prague’s historic sewage treatment facility.
Film screened at Film Fest Naruby include Tommy Wiseau’s legendary chamber drama The Room, John Travolta‘s sci-fi Scientology epic Battlefield Earth, the $85 Ugandan blockbuster Who Killed Captain Alex?, and Troll 2, subject of the documentary Best Worst Movie.
Also screening are a quartet of movies from guerrilla filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman‘s no-budget Troma Studios, including the 1984 classic The Toxic Avenger, two of its sequels (including Citizen Toxie, the pinnacle of the studio), and the recent Shakespeare’s Sh*tstorm.
To help wash down the taste, every ticket to Film Fest Naruby screenings comes with four shots of high-quality rum. “We practice a simple equation: bad movie + quality rum = great experience,” write the festival operators, who also run Prague’s new Kino Balt. A traffic light next to the cinema screen will tell viewers when to take their next shot, and non-alcoholic rum is also available for those who don’t wish to imbibe.
Along with the movies, the festival also provides unique access to the Bubeneč wastewater treatment plant that includes a one-hour ferry tour through the sewage canals (for an additional fee) and the possibility to climb and down its 30-meter tall chimney (on a secured rope).
Individual tickets to Film Fest Naruby including the four shots of rum and unique access to the Bubeneč plant run 490 crowns apiece.
Prague’s Bubeneč treatment plant is a protected national monument that hosts historic tours and other events. Completed in 1903, it was one the the first modern wastewater treatment plants in Europe and the first in Prague; previously, the Czech capital’s sewers flowed directly into the Vltava river.
You can learn more about the history of the Bubeneč treatment plant in the recent documentary TV series Smoke and Steel: Secrets of the Modern World from UKTV Play. The third episode of the series, War on the Waves, reveals how the Prague facility revolutionized sewage treatment in Europe.
In addition to hosting the new film festival, the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubeneč has served as a production location for numerous movies that have been shot in Prague, including Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Underworld: Blood Wars.
If you can’t make it to Film Fest Naruby, you can still tour the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubeneč on your own time through guided tours organized by the city of Prague. Tours take place twice daily on weekdays (four times per day in July and August) and five times per day on weekends, and run 200 crowns for adults.
For more details about the new film festival, and to purchase tickets online, visit the official Film Fest Naruby website.
