A documentary by Ví­t Klusák and Filip Remunda. In Czech with English subtitles. Unrated. Plays Friday to Monday, December 7 to 10, and Wednesday and Thursday, December 12 and 13, at the Pacific Cinémathí¨que

This near-mockumentary ("pro ­voc ­umentary"), a wry comment on fading national identity amidst the rising tide of globalization, follows two art students–turned-filmmakers, Ví­t Klusák and Filip Remunda, as they assemble a fake marketing campaign for a new-and-improved "hyperstore" that Prague will never see.

As the Czech Republic gets sucked into the European Union, and the capital city's 12th-century architecture starts to become diluted by anonymous box stores (to go with the hideous Soviet tower blocks), Klusák and Remunda decide to skip the whole development and building phase–how tedious, and risky! Instead, they go straight to the fun part: the advertising. During a brisk, if sometimes self-satisfied, 90 minutes, these friendly fellows show how a modern product is strategized for public consumption, even if (especially if?) there's no there there.

Infused with the sly spirit of Andy Warhol and Marshall McLuhan, with some Adbusters thrown in–the ads are full of reverse-psychology slogans, such as "Don't Go There"–the film is darkly funny. Who can resist, for instance, the kitschy theme song they commission for a Céline Dion–type warbler? On another level, this Dream illuminates the hidden nuts and bolts of consumer culture, wherever you live. And it is intriguing when the business-suited charlatans actually stick around to chat with the victims of their ruse on the grand "opening day". Some are incensed, and others–true Czechs, after all–crack up at the fact that they've been scammed yet again.