Meet the rex-pats

In the fall of 2003 Red Mackey held a screening of his film Rex-patriates. Mackey invited Prague's foremost rex-pats. Some of them were to appear in his film others were not. Mackey believed it important that his film rang true to the subjects that he had made his film about. Mackey of course invited the press. He wanted to try his film out on them too.

Before the screening Mackey arranged for a panel of ex-patriates to be available for questions to the local press. The following are excerpts.

E. Thomas Kranepool

writer / poet / rex-pat

"I first came to Prague in I think it was 93. I quickly got involved in White box theatre. I had a play produced and some of my writing was published in small local journals. Within 18 months my book To Wait Upon The One came out. Prague in those early days was especially gentle with young writers willing to confront artistic genius. It was a beautiful place to live. For my first two years here I didn't work but dedicated myself fulltime to honing my craft. But as always happens the money began to run out. My book wasn't selling like I hoped and there was no income there. My mother at one point sent me two thousand dollars to come home but I invested that into my craft and stayed here. This was a cycle I was to repeat countless times. Looking back I now know I had developed a mild case of PDRS. I couldn't imagine life existing anywhere outside of Prague. Eventually though through a bizarre set of circumstances I did leave Prague and return to the United States."

What were those circumstances?

Well I'm sort of uncomfortable going into those. If you're really interested Mackey details them in the film and you can see them there in just a few minutes. Just let me say it's a period of my life because of my illness I can't be entirely responsible for.

Why did you become a rex-pat and return to Prague?

Again it's something that's in the film. I don't mind talking about the film as a piece of work outside of myself but discussion of my personal life takes the focus away from the film and tonight should be about Mackey's film and Mackey's film only.

-reprinted by permission from Pozor magazine

Lucy Loden

rex-pat owner of PLAF or Prague Luxuries with an American Face

"I don't know if I'm in the film or not. Mackey says yes but I haven't seen it yet so I can't say for sure. But whether I'm in the film or not I am one of Levy's rex-pats. No doubt about that. I did leave Prague. I went to New York and got a job in one of Wall Streets top sixty-seven firms. Pretty soon I knew I was in trouble. In Prague I'd discovered that doing business over cocktails at lunch was highly productive but in America this is not possible. If you have a drink or two at lunch, you're alcoholic and they threaten to fire you or put you in a twelve step program. I also had a co-worker who accused me of ordering too much white out and other various office supplies then re-selling them to a Chinese vendor down the street for personal profit. It was a great idea but unfortunately it wasn't true. Anyway the co-worker could never prove it. I guess it was around this time I decided to leave New York and come back Prague and thank God they would have me back."

-reprinted from Prague Market Journal

More rex-pats coming soon