Almost one hundred years ago, a group of Czechs created their own world in the woods, inspired by their image of the American “Wild West”. Thus was born the informal movement known in Czech as “tramping”. Bára, the 30-year-old daughter of Czech immigrants to Canada, feels out of place in contemporary North American society, and so she travels to the Czech Republic in the hopes of finding the Czech “tramps” she heard of as a child and whom she has been dreaming about ever since. As she is boarding a train bound for the Czech countryside, she meets Honza, also 30, who is fleeing his settled life in the city. Together, they embark on a journey through the Czech woods, meeting people who have escaped urban life to live in the open air while keeping alive the world of their “tramp” predecessors. For decades, the vision of the old American way of life has inspired these men and women to adopt this lifestyle and music as they search for a “better and freer world” in their own land.
Amerika is the story of Bára and Honza, of Czech tramps, and of all those who are searching for their inner freedom.