Daniel's World

Filming the last taboo of modern society

Directed by Veronika Lišková, Daniel’s World offers a rare and challenging insight into one of society’s last taboos. The film centres on Daniel, a young Czech writer who lives with pedophilia yet chooses a life of abstinence, seeking to reconcile his natural desires with his ethical convictions. In candid therapy sessions, Daniel discusses his struggle to cope with his attraction through self-control and reflection, treating abstinence as an act of moral resistance and self-preservation.

Through Daniel’s story, the documentary examines how those who experience pedophilia navigate a world that rejects them entirely, regardless of their choices or actions. His attempts to join a support group, his encounters with others who share his orientation, and his participation in an LGBT rights march reveal the deep loneliness and moral complexity of his position.

Without resorting to sensationalism, the film portrays Daniel’s daily life with sensitivity and restraint, inviting the viewer to confront difficult ethical questions about identity, desire, and empathy. Echoing themes from Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Daniel’s World captures the tension between affection and prohibition, between love and solitude, in the life of a man condemned to live with an unfulfilled and forbidden love.