Night Games
Date:
December 28, 2024
Night Games
Night Games
by Liza Chakanava
Echo Stories | Czech Republic
Drama, Folk Horror
Logline
A shy summer camp counselor Anna becomes haunted by visions of a vicious forest spirit after witnessing her girlfriend’s infidelity. As the traditional night games begin, the legend awakens through her, and a tragedy looms over the camp.
Synopsis
The peaceful solitude of Makoshe, an ancient Slavic forest spirit, is disrupted when a Czech summer camp reopens after years of silence. Among the counselors are Anna, a shy first-timer, and her girlfriend Radka, confident, experienced, and admired by both children and staff.
When Anna sees Radka cheating, the shock sends her deep into the woods. There, a darkened hand pulls her into the swamp.
Anna eventually returns, but something inside her has changed. Entwined with Makoshe, she struggles to hold onto herself as the boundary between personal heartbreak and mythical anger grows increasingly thin. As the highlight of the holidays the Makoshe celebration starts in the camp and the biggest attraction, the night games, begin.
When children go into the dark woods to confront fear all the tension erupts into a violent confrontation. One that Anna cannot walk away from. At dawn, she is claimed by the forest, and Makoshe finds a new host: an eleven-year old Betka.
Author’s Note
“Night Games” is a drama with roots in folk horror. This dark fairy tale, where nature becomes the monster and humans the victims, draws from my own eco-anxieties.
I first encountered the Czech tradition of night games (CZ: Bojovka) two years ago, during one of the scariest nights of my life. As a camp counselor, I led seven ten-year-old boys through a dark forest. I could barely see, and one wrong step could have sent us off a steep cliff. I told the kids there was nothing to be afraid of. But I was lying. I couldn’t truly protect them, just as we cannot protect children in a world that is falling apart.
As Anna, our protagonist, grows closer to Makoshe the forest goddess, nature whispers to her through the rushing beetles and shares with her its pain when campers damage its trees. The ecosystem functions as a single organism reacting to human intrusion.
Nature comes alive not only through intensified soundscape but also by special effects, detailed forest set design, a voyeuristic camera and stylised “American night” cinematography. Together, they reveal a slow descent into horror and make the danger undeniable.
When Anna is defeated, Makoshe finds a new victim: little Betka. This satirical edge reveals how absurd our illusion of safety and authority becomes when confronted with real forces of nature. The monster will not be defeated unless our relationship with nature changes.
Company Profile
Echo Stories is a Prague-based company founded by producer Iuliia Mamaeva, developing author-driven fiction and documentary films. The company connects European talent with filmmakers from Central Asia and the Middle East, building a slate defined by international collaboration and cross-regional storytelling. Although recently established, Echo Stories already participates in major development platforms, including the MIDPOINT Series Launch/Short, Be2Be Exchange at MIA, East-West Talent Lab, and the ECAM Forum.
The company is currently developing the future debut film of director Liza Chakanava, “Kupala Night,” which won the Belarusian Filmmakers’ Network development incubator program and will be presented at the Belarusian Film Academy’s pitching at Berlinale 2026.