“The Lyricist” was the code name, as an “object of surveillance” in the archives of the secret police, for the erudite historian and dissident, Ján Mlynárik. Illustrated by archival and contemporary footage as well as interviews, this documentary explores how Mlynárik (1933 – 2012) not only experienced some of the key moments in his nations’ histories, he also initiated or participated in certain of them himself.

Results of his reflections and contemplations are placed against a backdrop of memories of the various versions of Czechoslovakia in history: the first Czechoslovak Republic, the wartime Slovak State, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Czechoslovak Federative Republic, as well as the Czech Republic and Slovakia of contemporary times.