This new guide to Slovak film and Slovak film industry was presented at the Cannes IFF 2007. You can download it here

Central European Cinema Stand (No. 129)
Film in Competition
Shooting Star
Market Screenings

More informations you can find here.

On December 8th, Slovak Film and Television Academy awarded best achievements in Slovak film industry for 2004-2005. Winners list.

Slovak Film Institute in cooperation with Petit Press publisher released collection of 10 best Slovak films of 80s on DVD in Autumn 2006. More than 100.000 DVDs were sold till the end of the year. You can find list of the films and instruction how to order them here.

Presentation of Upcoming Slovak Feature, Documentary and Animated Films was held on Friday, December 8, 2006 at 2 p.m. in the Cinema 12 of Palace Cinemas in Bratislava. It was organized by Slovak Film Institute, MEDIA Desk Slovakia in co-operation with 8. IFF Bratislava. More informations and PDF with all 40 projects you can find here.

Nominations for the 27th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. American version (Cinemax Reel Life) of Matej Minac’s film The Power of Good (story of Nicholas Winton which personally saved the lives of 669 children – most of them Jewish — from Czechoslovakia in 1939) - received nomination in category Outstanding Historical Programming – Long Form. The News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be presented on Monday, September 25 at a black-tie ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

The bilingual Slovak-English publication offers, in encyclopaedic form, detailed information about 68 Slovak directors of full-length feature films. Each individual profile consists of a short biography, a complete filmography and a selective bibliography. They are complemented with portrait photographs of the filmmakers and stills from selected film works. The register of filmmakers and register of film names allow the reader to easily search through the logically and clearly structured text of the publication.

The book was christened in the presence of 22 living directors who are also featured in the book.

The full-length documentary by Marko Škop, Other Worlds was screened in the first week of July in the non-competition section at the 36th International Film Festival Lubuskie Film Summer in Lagow, Poland, where it won the Zielon Gór Film Culture Award together with the Czech film Vierka by Miroslav Janek.

The Slovak television film Silence by the debuting director Zuzana Liová, was successful in the competition section, where it won the Silver Grape, the second-ranked Festival award ex aequo with the German film „KussKuss – Dein Glück gehört mir!“ by director Sören Senn. The Festival’s main prize – the Golden Grape – was not awarded.

The Lagow Festival programme also included the Slovak documentary Visions from the Inferno by Peter Dimitrov, the coproduction film The City of the Sun by Martin Šulík and the animated film Cheers! by Ivana Zajacová and Jozef Mital.

At the end of the Slovak Day (25 July 2006) at the Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště the long-awaited double DVD containing the works of director Elo Havetta was christened. The Elo Havetta Collection contains Havetta’s full-length feature films Celebration in the Botanical Garden (1969) and Wild Lilies (1972), as well as his three student films Saint Jane (1963), 34 Day of Absolute Peace (1965) and Forecast: Zero (1966). The DVD also includes the documentary by Marko Škop and Juraj Johanides, Celebration of a Lonely Palm which was made as a tribute to this important Slovak filmmaker. In attendance at the DVD‘s christening were the Czech screenwriter Lubor Dohnal, General Director of the Slovak Film Institute Peter Dubecký and director Marko Škop. We will inform you as soon as this DVD goes on sale.

The film Other Worlds by Marko Škop won two awards at the 41st IFF Karlovy Vary 2006 – first it won the Jury’s Special Mention in the documentary competition and then it also became the first documentary in the history of the Karlovy Vary IFF to win the Audience Award.
Other Slovak films were also screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF – Signum laudis (1980) in the Tribute to Martin Hollý section, The Town of Flying Words made by director Tina Diosi in the Documentary section out of the competition and the co-production Lunacy by Jan Švankmajer in the Czech Films 2005–2006 section. The Karlovy Vary IFF also included a presentation of East European documentaries called Docu Talents From East which was prepared by the Karlovy Vary IFF in collaboration with the Documentary Film Institute, Prague and MFDF Jihlava. The young Slovak documentarist Juraj Lehotský, together with the producer of the film Marko Škop, presented their film The Searching in this section.

In the part entitled Info & Offer you will find updated versions of two promotional bulletins published on the occasion of Slovakia’s participation in the film market at IFF Cannes 2006, viz.: the Slovak Film Guide 2006 and Slovak Films 1993-2006. These provide the user with all the necessary information about Slovak cinematography and Slovak films, as well as contact information for important institutions and organisations active in the Slovak audio-visual environment.

European Film Promotion (EFP) reaches further East: both the POLISH FILM INSTITUTE and the SLOVAK FILM INSTITUTE joined European Film Promotion (EFP), the European-wide network of film promotion and export organisations, during the 56th Berlin International Film Festival. You can find more in an official Press release.
PR New Members - Poland Slovakia engl.pdf
CEC Brochure PDF

The European Film Market (EFM) will traditionally take place at the IFF Berlin, this time at the 56th IFF Berlín (9-19 February 2006). Slovakia will be represented at the EFM for the first time as one of the countries jointly occupying the Central European Cinema Stand (No. 111) which is going to be prepared by the Slovak Film Institute (SFI) and the Slovak Association of Audiovisual Producers (SAPA) in collaboration with the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. Slovakia’s presentation at the IFF and EFM Berlin was supported by the Ministry of Culture.
For more information, go to the AIC website.

The programme of the jubilee 35th IFF Rotterdam (the Netherlands), which takes place from 25 January to 5 February 2006, contains four Slovak and co-production films as well. Lunacy (Šílení, CZ-SK, dir. Jan Švankmajer) will have its international premiére at the Festival in the Kings & Aces section, Wrong Side Up (Príbehy obyčajného šialenstva, CZ-SK-SRN, dir. Petr Zelenka) and The City of the Sun (Slnečný štát, SK-CZ, dir. Martin Šulík) will be screened in the Time & Tide section and Friday or Another Day (BE-IT-SK-FR, r. Yvan Le Moine) in the Sturm und Drang section. The IFF Rotterdam has published English and German versions of the script of Lunacy for the occasion of the screening of Švankmajer’s new film.

 

On 1 January the Slovak MEDIA Desk office became a part of the Slovak Film Institute. Its activities are further funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and the European Commission. The office’s role is to provide for the distribution of information on the MEDIA programmes and administrative support for the promoters of projects. All the contact data of MEDIA Desk Slovakia – its website, e-mail addresses, postal address and telephone numbers – remain unchanged.

On 6 December 2005 the presentation of a Czecho-Slovak book of film scripts by Dušan Hanák called 3 Scripts (3 scénaře) was held in the Slovak Institute in Prague. The publication was issued by the Slovak Institute in Prague in asssociation with the LIKA KLUB publishing house in Prague and the Slovak Film Institute. The book comprises the scripts of Hanák’s films 322 (1969), Pink Dreams (1976) and Pictures of the Old World (1972), which are among the director‘s outstanding works and which won many international awards. The LIKA KLUB publishing house, Prague has issued this as the first in a  series of editions of original Czech and Slovak scripts which represented pivotal moments in the development of Czecho-Slovak cinematography at the end of the 20th century. The scripts are complemented with a preface by the prominent Czech film historian Jan Lukeš, many period photographs, the director’s complete filmography, comments by the author and quotations from reactions to the films in the local and foreign press.

The Slovak release of this publication took on 9 December 2005 in the Piper’s Scottish Pub at the 7th International Film Festival Bratislava in Palace Cinemas, Aupark with the personal participation of the director and others involved in the making of the aforementioned films.

On 19 October 2005, a plaque commemorating film director and screenwriter Ján Kadár (1918-1979), Academy Award winner for The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na korze) was unveiled in a special ceremony in Rožňava. This event which was organised by the town of Rožňava in conjunction with the Slovak Film Institute was combined with a screening of The Shop on Main Street in the local Panorama Cinema. The film was introduced by historian Professor Václav Macek, who is the author of a monograph on Ján Kadár (in preparation).

In November 2005, Slovak films will be screened at three festivals and international film days, first in Rome and subsequently in Milan and Torino. The most popular Roman Film Festival MedFilm Festival is held from 7 to 20 November. Slovakia is represented by the President of the Film Journalists Club, Jaroslav Hochel, as a member of the International Jury and Matúš Prikler, student, as a member of the International Students’ Jury. Looking for Illusions (Hľadanie ilúzií, dir. S. Karimi), Pure Heart (Čisté srdce, dir. D. Rusnoková), Mr. Noproblem (dir. I. Popovič) and the Self-Portrait (Autoportrét, dir. M. Prikler) will be shown at the festival. Even though no full-length Slovak feature film was selected, on the day dedicated to our films at the festival the successful Italian film Sacred Heart (Cuore Sacro) will be screened, with the Slovak actress Barbora Bobuľová in the title role.

A film presentation focused especially on contemporary cinematography will be part of the Slovak Culture Days from 16 to 22 September 2005 in Sofia. Among the films screened will be films by Martin Šulík, The City of the Sun (Slnečný štát, 2004) and Tenderness (Neha, 1991), The Angel of Mercy (Anjel milosrdenstva, 1993) by Miloslav Luther, and It Will Stay Between Us (Zostane to medzi nami, 2003) by Miro Šindelka. An exhibition dedicated to the works of director Martin Slivka who made several documentaries in Bulgaria will be held in the course of the film presentation. One of the films presented will also be Slivka’s film, A Person Leaves Us (Odchádza človek, 1968). The presentation will also offer the documentary Hey You, Slovak! (Hej, Slováci!, 2002) by Robo Kirchhoff.

From 25 to 30 September 2005, films will be shown in the local Deutsches Filmmusem as part of the Slovak Culture Days (9 September to 30 October 2005) in Frankfurt am Main. The German audiences will see films by Martin Šulík (Everything I Like, Landscape), Dušan Hanák (I Love, You Love, Paper Heads), Peter Kerekes (66 Seasons), Laco Halama (The Camp of Fallen Women which will be complemented by the reading of writer Anton Baláž of his own book) and by Juraj Jakubisko. The German partners have decided to present the works of the latter director with his last film, the Czech film, Post Coitum.

You can find more information about the event and the entire programme at www.slowakische-kulturtage.de

The Czecho-Slovak film by Martin Šulík, The City of the Sun (Slnečný štát), and the Hungarian-Slovak-Polish film by Márta Mészáros, The Unburied Man (Nepochovaný mŕtvy), are listed among 46 European films which will compete for the 2005 European Film Awards. After last year’s Želary, Slovakia is thus represented by one more film this year. In the next few weeks the 1,600 members of the European Film Academy (among them five Slovaks) will choose nominations in the individual categories from the list (you can find it at http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/htm/Selection.html. The nominations will be announced at the beginning of November at the Seville Film Festival (Spain). The European Film Awards will be given on 3 December in Berlin.

The Slovak Film Institute, in cooperation with Global Network Distribution, is currently releasing on DVD the second full-length animated film by Viktor Kubal, the Bloody Lady (1980). It is a story of crime and love inspired by the historical legend about the cruel Lady of Čachtice.

The DVD has a Slovak and English menu, it is equipped with subtitles in ten languages (Slovak, English, French, Spanish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Italian and Russian) and bonuses (documentary “Viktor Kubal, the Magician ”, interviews with the filmmakers, a photo-story, profile, about re-mastering the film).

You can buy the DVD for SKK 299.- in selected shops or directly in the Slovak Film Institute (SFI), or on-line at obchodne@sfu.sk.

You will find detailed information on other publications, VHS and DVDs published or released by the SFI and how to purchase them here.

Dušan Hanák ‘s “Pictures of the Old World”, historically the first DVD published by the Slovak Film Institute, is once again returning to the shelves of shops. Since the entire edition had already sold out, the Slovak Film Institute decided to prepare a second edition, which was festively presented at the meeting with director Dušan Hanák on June 16, 2005 in the DIVYD retail outlet on Klobučnícka Street in Bratislava.

You may buy the DVD in selected shops all over Slovakia or you can order it at the Slovak Film Institute. You will find the exact procedure in the INFO & OFFER section: International orders and payments processing

The last year's DVD release of Obrazy starého sveta (Pictures of the Old World) documentary of director Dušan Hanák was welcomed by positive reactions from both lay and expert public. Thus, the SFI management decided to release eight more DVDs. The first selection consists of films about the legendary figure of Jánošík: Jánošík (1921, Jaroslav Siakeľ), Jánošík I-II (1962 – 63, Paľo Bielik), Pacho, hybský zbojník (Pacho, Brigand of Hybe, 1975, Martin Ťapák) and Zbojník Jurko (Brigand Jurko, 1976, Viktor Kubal).

The second collection of DVDs will hopefully soon bring the Slovak feature fairy-tales Soľ nad zlato (Salt More Than Gold, 1982, Martin Hollý), Mahuliena, zlatá panna (Mahuliena, Golden Maid, 1986, Miloslav Luther), Krvavá pani (Bloody Lady, 1980, Viktor Kubal, animated), and a film by Dušan Hanák Ružové sny (Pink Dreams, 1976). Each DVD will contain attractive documentaries of the period, photographs, and information, and a special bonus of up-dated filmmaker profiles. Both collections should be available by the end of 2003. Releases of a double DVD with the films Ľalie poľné (Wild Lilies) and Slávnosť v botanickej záhrade (Celebration in the Botanical Garden) of director Elo Havetta and a series of the works of director Karol Plicka are planned for the future.

Videocassettes and DVDs are available in selected bookstores but also at Editorial Dept. of the SFI.

contact: 00 421-2- 57 10 15 11, info@iac.sk