Wasteland (Czech: Pustina) is a Czech television series, which premiered in October 2016 on HBO Europe.[1] Created by Štěpán Hulík [cs], the series stars Zuzana Stivinova as the mayor of a small Czech town which is being bought up and razed by a coal mining company, leading to conflict between residents who want to preserve their traditional life and those who want to take the money and build a better life elsewhere. She loses a referendum allowing the mine to expand, in contravention of a 1991 law limiting brown coal mining in North Bohemia. At the same time, her daughter disappears, and what appears to be an attempt to silence her opposition to the coal mines suggests even deeper layers of political intrigue.[2]
Filming locations include Jezeří Chateau, an historic site almost entirely surrounded by surface mines.[3]
The cast also includes Jaroslav Dušek, Zuzana Stivínová [cs], Eva Holubová and Petra Špalková. Ivan Zachariáš, the Czech-born director, chose to cast amateurs alongside the professional actors, in order to heighten the eight-part series' realism.[4]
