The irony-filled road movie follows a package of cheap Czech package tourists on a holiday to the Mediterranean coast where they naturally do a lot of silly things that should make most upstanding Czechs cringe (in fact, that effect has been seen in audiences at some screenings – but in a good way, of course).

Now Vejdělek has agreed to take on a new film called Roming, which will tell the tale of three Roma from north Bohemia, a father, son and family friend, headed off for a wedding in Slovakia. Based on the writer-director's knack for wit, it sounds like a promising, pleasantly skewed look at serious social issues — which usually proves the best way to tackle them, after all.

Another promising Czech writer-director, Alice Nellis, who has also excelled at wry comedies in the past with Ene Bene, a parody of small town electioneering, and Výlet, or Some Secrets, a story of family infighting and road trips, is said to be at work on a new project with the esteemed Jan Svěrák. The latter, who has wrapped what's now called Empties (formerly known as Vratné lahve or Bottle Return), a film written by his talented father Zdeněk, has been in talks with Nellis for ages about the new project.

Clearly more laughs and ironic observation are in the cards.

Hopefully, those will not involve the new U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, Richard Graber, a Wisconsin Republican Party chief who is expected to move into The Rez, as the Prague 6 residence is known to locals, in the fall. He succeeds Alabaman William Cabaniss.

Certainly enthusiasm is not Graber's short suit. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said about him in its Aug. 5 edition:

"Graber said he was looking forward to life in the Central European nation of 10.9 million people,saying the Czech Republic was 'a wonderful story of moving from communism to democracy ... with a thriving economy and a vibrant democracy.' "