email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

ART FILM FEST 2021

Art Film Fest celebrates the centenary of the first feature-length Slovak film

by 

- The longest-running Slovakian film gathering will be spotlighting domestic cinema during its upcoming edition

Art Film Fest celebrates the centenary of the first feature-length Slovak film
The Man with Hare Ears by Martin Šulík

The longest-running Slovak film gathering, Art Film Fest, returns today after a year-long hiatus prompted by the outbreak of the pandemic. “The situation does not yet allow us to return to the original model of the festival, but the preparation of a ‘chamber’ version is a creative challenge, which we take very seriously. The quality of the programme remains our number-one priority,” says Peter Nagel, the festival’s artistic director. The international competition will welcome feature debuts and sophomore films from emerging talents, including Suzanne Lindon’s Spring Blossom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Suzanne Lindon
film profile
]
, Listen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Rocha de Sousa
film profile
]
by Ana Rocha De Sousa, Magnus von Horn’s Sweat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus von Horn
film profile
]
and Ninja Thyberg’s Sundance-screened drama Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile
]
.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

A selection of world cinema will be presented in the Panorama section, which includes European productions such as Arman T Riahi’s Fox in a Hole [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arman T Riahi
film profile
]
, Nir Bergman’s Here We Are [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Caroline Vignal’s My Donkey, My Lover & I [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and the Bosnian submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, Quo Vadis, Aida? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile
]
.

The upcoming edition of Art Film Fest will also be spotlighting domestic cinema. “The anti-pandemic measures will allow us to focus our attention on domestic guests in particular. Many of them will come to Košice to present films that are still awaiting their official premiere. The Slovak film industry is currently commemorating the centenary of the creation of the first feature film, and Art Film Fest will become a place where we can celebrate it together,” adds the artistic director. Martin Šulík’s dramedy The Man with Hare Ears [+see also:
trailer
interview: Martin Šulík
film profile
]
will thus open the festival, while other domestic movies will be brought together in the Slovak Season section, among them Bohdan Sláma’s historical drama Shadow Country [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Mira Fornay’s enigmatic, absurd drama on domestic violence Cook F**k Kill [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mira Fornay
film profile
]
and a gangster-comedy co-production by newcomer Adam Hobzik, Wrap Up and Disappear.

Furthermore, Slovak cinema will be represented by a slew of documentaries enjoying their domestic premieres. The line-up comprises Viera Čákanyová’s Berlinale flick White on White [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Lucia Kašová’s Hot Docs film The Sailor [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Mária Pinčiková’s On Your Marks!, which bowed most recently at Doclisboa, and Jan Gogola’s documentary portrait of the frontman of “Czechoslovak” pop-rock band Elán, Eternal Jožo [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jan Gogola Jr
film profile
]
. In addition, the year 2021 marks the centenary of the first Slovak feature film, Jánošík, directed by Jaroslav Siakeľ, with cinematography by inventor Daniel Siakeľ. Besides screening the film 100 years after its premiere, Art Film Fest will bestow its President’s Award upon Jaroslav Siakeľ in memoriam.

The 28th edition of the Art Film Fest Košice runs from 23-27 June, and the full line-up is available here.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy