21/08/2014 - The shooting of the new genre film, a Slovak and Czech co-production, has already begun

Director Tomáš Mašín (© Jindřich Mynařík, MAFRA)

Genre films are not such a widespread phenomenon in Slovak cinema, yet two films have premiered this year: the retro action B-movie Socialist Zombie Massacre and First Slovak Horror, a documentary explaining why it is so difficult to make horror films in the country. On the other hand, the first Slovak horror film that was actually released theatrically was Peter Bebjak’s Evil.

However, principal photography for yet another genre film started on 9 August. Wilson City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is a parody of crime and horror pulp novels, and recounts the action-packed search for a murderer right after the end of World War I in the Jewish district of Wilson City (Bratislava). “Genre films really pull in the audiences, but they are financially difficult to make,” explains producer Zuzana Mistríková, of Slovak firm PubRes. “It took four years for the producers to secure the project in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The support received from the Eurimages fund in December 2013 was really significant,” adds Mistríková.

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For the screenplay, Czech screenwriter Marek Epstein (The Messenger, In the Shadow [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Václav [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) has adapted a short story by Slovak writer Michal Hvorecký, The Worst Crime in Wilson City (from his collection of short stories Hunters & Gatherers). “Epstein has shifted the story away from the gothic horror of the original short story to a horror and crime comedy, linking it to the wave of popular Czechoslovak comedies from the 1970s,” says Mistríková about the adaptation, which is currently being directed by Tomáš Mašín, an experienced, award-winning Czech director of adverts who made his feature debut in 2009 with 3 Seasons in Hell [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Wilson City boasts a batch of talented Slovak and Czech actors, such as Vojtěch Dyk, Jiří Macháček, Táňa Pauhofová and Richard Stanke.

Principal photography will continue until the beginning of October, while some special effects will be added in post-production right after the shoot. The domestic premiere is slated for September 2015. Mistríková has revealed that the producers – FilmBrigade from the Czech Republic and PubRes from Slovakia – will start consulting with festivals at the beginning of 2015. The Czech and Slovak public television companies are acting as co-producers on the project.