Petra Tikalova

Bunny

Mia Trachinger

Petra Tikalova, Edward Dratver

Premiering at the 2000 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Bunny offers a look at an Eastern European couple's difficult introduction to American culture. Arriving in an anonymous U.S. city, Nik (Edyk Dratver) and Luda (Petra Tikalova) are taken in by Luda's brusque Aunt Elise (Elizabeth Liebel). As they attempt to find work, Nik and Luda meet with a slew of xenophobic rejection until finally they land jobs as part of an experimental public works project. The project requires the couple to dress up in pink bunny costumes and offer anonymous, understated moral support to the city's denizens. While Nik, who was a lawyer back home, is disgusted by his new job, Luda revels in it, and their marriage soon enters a territory as rocky as their assimilation.