Art Film Fest will open with the genius director Pedro Almodóvar’s brand new film, Broken Embraces, premiered at this year’s Cannes festival, which concluded just a month ago. It is thus a rarity, in that a picture directed by such a towering figure and starring the Oscar-winning Penelope Cruz comes to our festival in such a short time.
Visitors can look forward to a world-famous star of the silver screen, British actor Jeremy Irons, who right at the festival’s opening on Saturday, 20 June at 15:30, will personally accept the Actor’s Mission Award and fasten a brass plaque bearing his name onto the Bridge of Fame, which has been moved closer to the people this year, to Spa Park.
Just one hour after accepting his award, in Trenčianske Teplice’s Tatra Banka Tented Cinema, Jeremy Irons will personally introduce his famous film Swann in Love from 1984, in which he played alongside Ornella Muti. Also on Saturday, the festival will feature yet another Irons film, Dead Ringers, for which he received a New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actor. In it he plays the double role of two twin-brother gynaecologists.
Right on the first day, the festival will screen the exceptional American documentary Power of the Powerless, narrated by Irons himself. The film’s director, Cory Taylor, will personally introduce the documentary at Art Film Fest. The Actor’s Mission Award will also be granted to Czech actor Jaromír Hanzlík. He will appear at the Bridge of Fame on Friday, 26 June at 16:00. After accepting the award, he will personally introduce the film Coach to Vienna from 1966, in which he played the role of a miserable Nazi soldier.
The Golden Camera will be bestowed to an Italian film icon, director Ettore Scola and the grande dame of Czech cinema Věra Chytilová.
This year’s Art Film Fest will feature two competition sections. The International Competition of Feature Films will be judged by a five-member international jury, which will include Hungarian actress and director Eniko Eszenyi, German curator, dramaturge and film festival director Heiko Fischer, American critic and publicist Jay Weissberg, Czech actor and director Jan Kačer and Slovak actress, singer and world traveller Dorota Nvotová. The winner will receive the Blue Angel Award and fifteen-thousand euros.
The Competition of Short Films will be judged by a three-member jury composed of: Polish film historian and theorist Jadwiga Glowa, Romanian screenwriter and director Adrian Sitaru and Slovak animator, director and producer Ivana Zajacová.
In addition to competition sections, Art Film Fest will also feature informative, non-competitive sections. Slovak Season will feature a selection of current Slovak pictures, including premieres. Audiences await, for example, director Ivan Vojnár’s long-anticipated film with the working title “Flowers of Sakura”, which will arrive in cinemas as My Husband’s Women. The festival will present films such as Soul at Peace, Tango with Mosquitoes, Cooking History, Heaven, Hell… Earth and Broken Promise.
The section Dancing 80’s contains pictures that for over twenty years have reminded multiple generations of their unforgettable dance numbers and hit songs. Audiences can look forward to Fame from director Alan Parker and All That Jazz from director Bob Fosse. Each dance film will be personally introduced to the audience by well-known Slovak dancer and choreographer Ján Ďurovčík.
Festival president Milan Lasica has hand-picked his favourite comedies for the section Best of Comedy, where he will personally introduce films such as Beauties of the Night with the legendary Gina Lollobrigida.
The section Around the World contains true gems of world cinema. Among the confirmed films is winner of the latest festival in Venice and Oscar nominee Wrestler from director Darren Aronofsky, featuring the celebrated comeback of Mickey Rourke. We are also anticipating film portraits of George W. Bush, Che Guevara and Mike Tyson.
The section European Corner will bring Art Film Fest the latest adaptation of the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, countess of Čachtice. The picture The Countess was shot and starred in by renowned French actress and director Julie Delpy. The film had its world premiere at the recent prestigious Berlin festival.
Cult! will present films which have made cinema history. Love & Anarchy surveys the latest trends of European, American and Asian film. Late Night Show will once again feature a selection of shocking and unique works.
Art Film Fest will also commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the November, 1989 revolution. Festival cinemas will screen two pictures dedicated to this extraordinary historical event. The American documentary The Power of the Powerless from director Cory Taylor chronologically traces the Velvet Revolution in the streets of Prague and Bratislava and examines the harmful effects of “erasing” history. The film is also unique in being narrated by renowned actor Jeremy Irons, who will himself personally visit Art Film Fest.
The second title will be Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels from American filmmaker of Czech descent Jan Novák and his son Adam. This documentary collage is a testimony to the absurdities of the normalisation era, illuminating the secret police’s interrogation methods and the phenomenon of “home theatre”.
In addition to films, visitors will be able to attend two major open-air concerts free of charge. On Sunday, 21 June, Trenčín’s main square will welcome an outstanding band from our western neighbours, the Eben Brothers, led by the famous TV moderator and actor Marek Eben. Art Film Fest’s second major concert will take place on Wednesday, 24 June, when fans can look forward to the popular Czech group Kryštof with the charismatic Richard Krajčo at the helm.
Art Film Fest attendees will be able to sample concerts every day in Trenčianske Teplice’s festival cafes and Spa Hall. The music series “Every Evening Live with Oskar Rózsa” starts off on Saturday, 20 June, when Tomáš Sloboda, former frontman of the cult band Le Payaco, will sing with his group Sounds Like This. Up to the festival’s close, concerts will be played by jazz combo Oskar Rózsa Quartet, the vocal group Fragile – eight singers without musical instruments, who present well-known international pop and jazz hits – Radek Pastrňák and Pakostra Blues – a group of first-rate Ostrava blues musicians – Slovak folk-rock singer Soňa Horňáková with her band and popular singer Marcel Palonder with his new project Tango Ultimo.
This year festival screenings will take place at six screening sites: Trenčín – ODA Cinema, ArtKino Metro, Cinemax and the open-air Bažant Cinematograph on Štúr Square. Trenčianske Teplice – Prameň Cinema and the Tatra Banka Tented Cinema in Spa Park.
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Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., FORZA Production House Co-Organizers: the Town of Trenčianske Teplice, the Town of Trenčín, Health Spa Trenčianske Teplice
The Festival is made possible through the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.
General Sponsors: AquaCity Poprad, zdravotná poisťovňa Dôvera
Main Sponsors: Omnia Holding, Tatra banka, Tauris, the Central European Foundation, Slovnaft Official Transport Provider: Lancia Logistics Sponsor: DHL Sponsors: Provimi Pet Food, Dr. Max, Enagro, Hotel Baske, AVI Studio Official Suppliers: Hubert, Parkhotel na Baračke, GS design, Segafredo Zanetti SR, Philips, Via France Sponsor of the Slovak Season section: Zlatý Bažant
Main Media Sponsors: Slovak Television, Pravda, Zoznam.sk, Boomerang, Žurnál Media Sponsors: televízia Markíza, FilmBox, Televízia Central, Rádio Okey, Rádio Hit FM, Markíza, Pardon, Cinemax, Kam do mesta, port.sk, kedykam.sk, superobed.sk, ISPA, SITA, Q-EX, Trenčianske Echo Partners: Hotel Praha, Hotel Flóra, Hotel Tatra, Slovak Film Institute, Italian Cultural Institute Bratislava, CzechTourism, Intersonic, Tatrafilm, Slovak Film and Television Academy, Esterle & Esterle, lampART, Celtima
