When Zdenka, a single woman in Czech Republic, started playing online games with strangers, she didn't know it would change her life. Neither did Tabish, a computer scientist a world away in Pakistan. Their friendship turned to romance, and after flying to Sri Lanka to meet in real life, the committed couple married. Tabish filled out Czech immigration applications and Zdenka eagerly awaited her husband's arrival. But five years later, the two remain apart, forced to live their married life on Skype. Time and again, the Czech government rejects Tabish's entry requests. But why? Are they protecting Zdenka, an older woman in a wheelchair, from a "feigned marriage," or themselves from a calculating young man from Pakistan seeking entry into the EU? Are they paternalistic, ableist or simply racist? With grit, humour and dogged perseverance, the couple digs in to battle a faceless bureaucracy. In these cynical and austere times, can love ever win? Myrocia Watamaniuk
The Changing Face of Europe program presented in partnership with
