In an unprecedented move the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has decided to screen all eight episodes of HBO Europe’s new drama series Pustina at this year’s festival.

Pustina (Wasteland) is an 8x1 hour original drama series set in the Czech Republic, written by Stepan Hulik, writer of Burning Bush, the HBO miniseries directed by Agnieszka Holland that achieved international acclaim.

The story tells of a mining village on the verge of extinction. Sitting on huge reserves of coal, foreign mining interests plan to acquire the village, remove its population and their homes and establish a soul-less mining complex.

The villagers are divided - some see this as an opportunity for a new life elsewhere, others want to preserve their homes and traditional life; the community starts to fall apart, and the story begins.......

The series was produced by Nutprodukce and Etamp, who also made Burning Bush for HBO Europe.