Wolfy (2009) is the film debut of the renowned dramatist Vasiliy Sigarev, based on one of his own plays. This visually compelling but sad story tells of a mother and daughter’s unbelievably tense relationship, one which will never work as long as one keeps running away from the other. At the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival, the film won awards for Best Actress, Screenplay, and the festival Grand Prize.
Another intriguing debut is Federico Godfrid’s La Tigra, Chaco (2008), bestowed the title of Best Argentinean Film of 2009 by the FIPRESCI jury at the Mar del Plata film festival. It is a simple tale of a student who returns to the sleepy small town where he grew up to meet his father, shot with a great deal of authenticity. The film is dominated by its stars’ natural performances.
The fiction film Ordinary People (2009),
based on documentation from the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, recounts an average day in the life of a young soldier during the war in Yugoslavia. It is a hot summer day, with nothing doing, when car arrives with captives who are supposed to be shot. Against a powerful psychological backdrop, the film is shot with an almost banal detachment, which makes the shocking reality of its subject all the more palpable. This feature-length debut by director Vladimir Perisic was screened at Cannes 2009.
Nor should viewers miss The Ape (2009), a dark, claustrophobic, horror-tinged thriller from Jesper Gandslandt. A man wakes up in his own home after a drinking binge. Everything is covered with blood, but he remembers nothing. The day goes on, and he begins to remember… Its unaffected, almost documentarial tone give the film a frighteningly realistic atmosphere, thanks in part to improvisational performances from the actors, who were never told what would happen in subsequent scenes.
Trash Humpers (2009) is a controversial treat for fans of Harmony Korine, one of the best-known contemporary independent filmmakers, creator of Gummo and Mister Lonely. His latest film uses an old camcorder to capture a band of bizarre homeless people who muck about, have sex with rubbish containers and humiliate each other… The film is essentially plotless, but it manages to emphatically portray the beauty of total destruction. Those viewers who don’t get up and leave after the first few minutes will bear witness to incomparable improvisational performances and an ineffably powerful and authentic approach to filmmaking.
Audiences can also look forward to Gigante (d. A. Biniez, 2009), an unconventional, gripping melodrama about a menacing night watchman, Distance (d. T. Sieben, 2009), the chilling tale of an unassuming serial killer, Awaydays (d. P. Holden, 2009), a brutal depiction of an ostensibly romantic generation of youth in Thatcher-era Britain, the film Face (2009), the latest feature-length title from Tsai Ming-Liang, one of the most today’s acclaimed directors, and more.
Photographs can be found at artfilmfest.sk in the Press section. 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 sporitelna (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, A Briliant
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
