Over the course of his career, Mr. Szomolányi has collaborated with renowned Slovak directors, and the films which he has shot are classics of Slovak cinema. He graduated in cinematography from FAMU (Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague, later working at Slovak Film studios in Bratislava. His very first film, the documentary Niekedy v novembri (Sometime in November, 1958), was also the first instance of his illustrious and prolific collaboration with director Štefan Uher, which would continue for another thirty years. They achieved prodigious success with one of their first feature-length films, Slnko v sieti (The Sun in a Net, 1962), which authentically captured the sentiments of its era’s youth. This filmmaking duo’s work also includes pictures such as Keby som mal pušku (If I Had a Gun, 1971), Organ (1964), Panna zázračnica (Miraculous Virgin, 1966), Tri dcéry (Three Daughters, 1967), Pásla kone na betóne (Concrete Pastures, 1982) a Šiesta veta (The Sixth Sentence, 1985).
Szomolányi has filmed additional notable films with other reputable directors such as the television film Krotká (Tame, d. S. Barabáš, 1967) and Balada o siedmich obesených (The Ballad of Seven Hanged Men, d. M. Hollý, 1968).
He has received several Slovak and international awards for his work, including the Sun in a Net film award, an anniversary award from the Association of Slovak Film Clubs for his contribution to Slovak cinema and a cinematography prize for Živko Nikolic’s film Čudo nevidjeno (Unseen Wonder) at the Pula film festival in Croatia. Stanislav Szomolányi currently teaches at Bratislava’s Academy of Performing Arts. The Slovak Film Institute has published a profile of the cinematographer compiled by Richard Blech.
The Art Film Fest International Film Festival Trenčianske Teplice/Trenčín is made possible through the financial support of the Audiovisual Fund and the European Union Programme MEDIA.
Organizers: ART FILM, n. o., Forza, a. s. Co-organizers: the Town of Trenčianske Teplice, the City of Trenčín, the Trenčianske Teplice Health Spa General Sponsors: Dôvera Medical Insurance, AquaCity Poprad Main Sponsors: Tatra banka, Slovnaft, Veolia Voda – Central Slovakian Waterworks, OHL ŽS, Alison Slovakia; Official Transport Provider: Lancia Logistics Sponsor: DHL; Free student cinepasses provided by: Prvá stavebná sporiteľňa (First Housing-Construction Savings Bank) Sponsor of the Slovak Season section: Zlatý Bažant; Sponsors: AVI Studio, Baske Guest House, Park Hotel na Baračke Official Suppliers: HUBERT J.E., Kláštorná, GS design, Philips Media Sponsors: Slovak Television, Markíza Television, FilmBox, CSTV, Central Europe Television, Rádio Europa 2, Rádio Hit FM, Pravda, .týždeň, Markíza, Pardon, Cinemax, Kam do mesta, zoznam.sk, Boomerang Media, SITA, euroAWK, superobed.sk
