In the first few months of 2009, several new Slovak films have opened in cinemas. But Art Film Fest won’t restrict itself to previously released Slovak films – it will also feature several premieres. Festival guests will get the first chance to see My Husband’s Women, director Ivan Vojnár’s long-anticipated film originally titled “Flowers of Sakura”. The characters’ stories are connected to the fate of a married celebrity couple. The film stars Zdena Studenková, Martin Stropnický, Eva Bándor, Vladimír Dlouhý, Marija Dimishkova and Ľubomír Paulovič. Also awaiting premiere at Art Film Fest is Jaro Vojtek’s The Border, a documentary on the Slovak village Veľké Slemence, which the Red Army split into two parts: one for Slovakia and one for Ukraine. Akin to the Berlin Wall, the border divided property, families, and even a cemetery.
This year may have even more Slovak films in store, but 2009 has already seen the release of several which will be screened in the festival cinemas. Audiences can look forward to director Vladimír Balko’s Soul At Peace, which ranks as the third most-watched film in the history of the Republic, with more than 113 thousand viewers. Also featured will be director Peter Kerekes’s noteworthy Cooking History, which maps historic military conflicts through the testimonies of military cooks’, and asks if war would be at all possible without them. We couldn’t leave out Laura Siváková’s Heaven, Hell… Earth starring Zuzana Kanócz, which tells the story of a young ballerina whose relationships and dreams collapse, only to later find happiness. Guests and participants of the 17th Annual Art Film Fest will also see Jiří Chlumský’s holocaust drama Broken Promise, which will premiere on 30 April. The festival will naturally invite the films’ crews and casts for post-screening discussions.
“Audiences haven’t seen every Slovak film yet. At Art Film Fest we gladly reprise them, because unfortunately, some mainstream cinemas have screened them only briefly,” concluded Nágel.
Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., FORZA Production House
Co-Organizers: The Town of Trenčianske Teplice, The Town of Trenčín, Health Spa Trenčianske Teplice
Main Media Sponsors: Slovenská televízia, Slovenský rozhlas, Pravda, Zoznam.sk
Media Sponsors: televízia Markíza, FilmBox, Televízia Central, Rádio Okey, Rádio FM, Rádio Regina, Rádio GO Dee Jay, Rádio Hit FM, týždenník Markíza, Žurnál, Pardon, Trenčianske Echo, Kam do mesta, port.sk, superobed.sk, SITA, ISPA, Q-EX
