The award winning film tells the history through the force and emotion of a personal story. It is the engaging portrait of Emil Synek, the filmmaker s grandfather, who was a revered playwright, journalist and politician in Czechoslovakia during the era of the Second World War and the Communist takeover. When he was filmed, Emil Synek in his eighties, lived in exile in Paris with his constant companion, a poodle Fifi. Emil s life was shaped by the politics of Europe. When the Nazis invaded is country. He fled to London , where he joined the exiled government of Eduard Benes. In post-war Czechoslovakia he served as a diplomat until the Communist takeover of 1948 forced him and his family to flee again to the West. All his works and any mention of his life was obliterated from is country s history. His story echoes Czechoslovakia's struggle for freedom. It gained independence in 1918 only to lose it to Hitler s invading army. In 1945 the exiled government was restored but was overthrown three years later by the Communists. In 1968 a quest for democratic socialism and independence was crushed by Soviet force.