"The Welfare Myth"
Director Dusan Krnac
Countries Slovakia
Duration 44 min
Synopsis
The film attempts to create a portrait of a socially marginalized family existing on the edge of the Slovak society at the mercy of money-lenders and a bankrupt and indifferent medical and social support-system. Due to a severe, - possibly fatal, - health condition of one of its two children and the economic repercussions of securing the necessary treatment and medicine, the family has been forced into an unsustainable economic situation. After the bank forced the parents to sell their home, they moved in at the raw loft of the grandparent’s house and now find themselves without any other choice but to finance the ongoing struggle for their son’s health through high-interest loans from money-lending agencies. Left with the impossible choice between sacrificing the hope of recovery and making that easy phone-call to the loan-sharks they always instinctively make the obvious choice, well aware that this will further accelerate their economic downfall.
The film attempts to create a portrait of a socially marginalized family existing on the edge of the Slovak society at the mercy of money-lenders and a bankrupt and indifferent medical and social support-system. Due to a severe, - possibly fatal, - health condition of one of its two children and the economic repercussions of securing the necessary treatment and medicine, the family has been forced into an unsustainable economic situation. After the bank forced the parents to sell their home, they moved in at the raw loft of the grandparent’s house and now find themselves without any other choice but to finance the ongoing struggle for their son’s health through high-interest loans from money-lending agencies. Left with the impossible choice between sacrificing the hope of recovery and making that easy phone-call to the loan-sharks they always instinctively make the obvious choice, well aware that this will further accelerate their economic downfall.