You Elephant of Ours

At the Zoo an elephant comes and picks up grass with its trunk. Visitors stand around to watch him. The director of the Prague Zoo, Zdeněk Veselovský, is being interviewed about the difficult financial situation, which makes it impossible to repair the elephant pavilion. A decision has been made to shoot the elephant because of the insufficient pavilion. The cut shows figures of soldiers, a cannon firing, a funeral, frightened animals, and a symbolic shot of an elephant figure lying on its back. However, the elephant is alive and the suggestion to shoot it was meant just to shock the viewers. A scene about a conversation with an imaginary representative of the Prague City Council, with whom cultural funding is being discussed. At the National Gallery in Prague, its director Jan Krofta is questioned about the state of the gallery's collections and buildings. There is a lack of space to display works of art. The situation is equally desperate at the Czechoslovak Television. The equipment in the Prague television studio is very old and insufficient for the staff. However, plans are already in progress for the modern buildings of the Czechoslovak Television in Kavčí Hory.