Big World Pictures will release The Owners (Vlastníci), the Czech comedy film written and directed by Jiří Havelka, based on a play, The Society of Owners (Condominium), which Havelka also wrote and directed.

Starring in the film are Tereza Ramba, Vojta Kotek, Dagmar Havlová, Jiří Lábus, Pavla Tomicová, Ondřej Malý, Klára Melíšková, Kryštof Hádek, Stanislav Majer, Andrej Polák, David Novotný, Ladislav Trojan, Jiří Černý, and Maria Sawa.

A box office hit in its native country, the film won Best Screenplay for Jiří Havelka and Best Actress for Tereza Ramba at the 27th Czech Lion Awards and two Czech Film Critics’ Awards.

The Owners will open at The Quad in New York on August 18 and at Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on August 25.

A timely metaphor for failing democracy, The Owners takes a seriocomic look at the most local form of self-governance: the co-op apartment building meeting. It includes a curious cast of characters, all of whom own apartments in the same building in Prague, as they attempt to tolerate each others’ presence long enough to try and make some important decisions about the building’s future.

Mrs. Zahrádková (Teresa Ramba) wants to save the old crumbling building she shares with other apartment owners. She hopes to find supporters for her plan in young newlyweds with their idealistic enthusiasm, who have just moved in and are astonished by the co-owners’ inability to agree on anything. Mrs. Roubíčková (Klára Melíšková) vigilantly controls the proper course of the meeting, not allowing the slightest deviation from the rules; Mrs. Procházková and her proclaimed business partner Mr. Novak are looking for ways to increase the value of their property by subletting the apartment to African students; Mr. Nitranský tries to get a hold of the attic to expand his own flat; and frustrated Mr. Kubát sabotages any and all decisions. Will the neighbors reach an agreement, or will the building become the casualty of their self-centered interests?

Watch the trailer for The Owners.