Some of them remain to be seen on Slovak Television later this year. From 2007 to 2009, and including unfinished and upcoming projects for 2010, Slovak Television has invested a total of 3.1M EUR, of which in-kind support comprised 893K EUR and 2.2M EUR was made up of financial support. 2.3M EUR of the total went to feature films and 807K EUR to documentaries. Currently there are 26 documentary films in production, comprising a total of 280K EUR. The expenses of upcoming feature films and documentaries amount to 516K EUR, of which investments amounting to 487K EUR are going to feature films and 28K to documentaries.
Feature Production
From 2009 to 2009, STV has participated in the co-production of nine feature-length live-action films, of which five have been successfully premiered in Slovak cinemas and one on STV (Taste of Summer). Nine co-produced dramatic works are currently in the development phase, including two feature-length films, two serials (Záchranný system [Emergency Services], Kriminálka Staré mesto [Old Town Detectives]) and three children’s films (O Cecílii [About Celilia], Aj kone sa chcú hrať [The Horses Want to Play, Too], Sľub [Promise]). Two films’ co-production contracts are currently being negotiated – Dom (House) and Čerešňový chlapec sa vracia (The Return of the Cherry Boy).
Yet to come this year is the cinema premiere of the film My Husband’s Women (formerly known as Flowers of Sakura).
Slovak Television is successfully represented in these co-productions by director Jiří Chlumský’s film Broken Promise, which has been seen by more than eight thousand viewers since its 30 April 2009 premiere, as well as winning at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival in May 2009. STV’s most successful co-produced film of 2008 was Bathory, which received a Golden Lion in 2008 as the film most successful at box offices. By the end of last year, nearly 430 thousand viewers had seen it. Including those in the Czech Republic, it was seen by more than one million satisfied viewers.
Documentary Production
Regarding documentary production, Slovak Television has aired 55 documentaries between 2007 and June 2009, and 13 more parts of the series Gen.sk will be aired this year. The year’s second half will see the airing of four more documentaries (Malý zúrivý Robinson [Furious Little Robinson], Tri biblie, dva osudy, jedna láska [Three Bibles, Two Destinies, One Love], Koliba and Cooking History) and the five-part EFKO.
26 co-produced documentaries are currently in production. The most successful co-produced documentaries thus far have been The Last Caravan from director Peter Beňovský (this film was awarded at Etnofilm Čadca 2008 with the Martin Slivka Award – the Literary Foundation Prize for the best individual achievement of a Slovak filmmaker), Cooking History from director Peter Kerekes, which premiered on 19 February 2009 (receiving a special jury prize at the 16th Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival), Pavol Barabáš’s Tepuy (awarded with the Grand Prix at the Speleology Festival in Verkors along with 9 other prizes), Dušan Trančík’s Optimista (granted the Igric Award in the television drama category for its effective portrayal of the life of an extraordinary individual, the founder of the Piešťany Spa, and his inner conflict between ideology and human self-preservation) and František Palonder’s My Father Gulag (honourable mention at the 9th Annual One World Festival in 2008).
