Art Film Fest, Slovakia’s most significant film event kicks off tomorrow – Friday, 17 June, and will last till Saturday, 25 June. This year marks the 24th edition of the Slovak cinematic celebration, but the first to be held in East Slovakia, in Košice to be precise, where the festival is headed at this very moment.
Free public transport for all ArtFilmers
The change of location for our most famous film festival is accompanied by several new additions. The organizers naturally considered the fact that not all the festival screening venues are within walking distance of each other, and thus in the interest of maximum comfort for all visitors, they have decided to make getting around Košice easier. “Art Film Fest Cinepass and accreditation holders will be able to use municipal public transport free of charge throughout the festival,” explains the festival’s marketing director, Veronika Kašpar Šmihuľová. “They simply have to display their Cinepass or accreditation on the bus,” she adds.
Art Film Fest invites people of Košiče onto red carpet
“Filmmakers from around the world are headed for our festival. For these honoured guests, we’ve prepared a ceremony truly worthy of the 24th edition of our festival. And since Košice has welcomed Art Film Fest with open arms, we’re thanking its people with several gifts. We don’t intend to keep the atmosphere of the opening ceremony all to ourselves. We want to share it with the whole city,” says the event’s general manager, Rudolf Biermann, offering a glimpse into the festival’s preparations. Today, one day before the momentous opening, the Art Film Fest team is giving away ten thousand invitations to Košice’s amphitheatre, whose gates, at 7:30 pm tomorrow, will be open to all. At 8:00 pm on the city’s open-air cinema screen, attendees will be able to watch a live broadcast of the guests’ arrival on the red carpet, followed at 9:00 pm by a live broadcast of the opening ceremony at Kunsthalle, hosted by famous Czech talk-show host Jan Kraus. After the broadcast, visitors can enjoy a screening of the new film Our Kind of Traitor, starring Ewan McGregor, Damian Levis, Naomie Harris and Stellan Skarsgård. The first five hundred guests to pass through the amphitheatre gates at 7:30 pm will also be welcomed with a free Stella Artois lager.
But Art Film Fest’s gifts won’t be limited to the amphitheatre – more is to come on the red carpet at the Kunsthalle entrance. There at 7:00 pm the very same evening, all film fans and festival supporters are invited to a dance party. And for fans awaiting the red-carpet arrivals of this year’s illustrious guests, there is a truly big surprise in store! “At 8:00 pm, when the guests begin to arrive, we will start throwing ten footballs, one by one, each signed by the Slovak national football team, to the fans at the Kunsthalle entrance. Anyone who catches a ball (a couple or an individual plus a companion) will be instantly called to walk the red carpet and invited to the gala opening ceremony in Kunsthalle, which is invitation-only. These first ten winners and their companions will be guaranteed a seat in Kunsthalle,” reveals Art Film Fest General Manager Rudolf Biermann, quickly adding: “After everyone has arrived, we will launch another thirty signed balls from the balcony. These lucky ball-catchers will likewise be invited to walk down the red carpet and experience the ceremony first-hand.” This second group of winners will be guaranteed at least standing room in Kunsthalle.
Festival partners to come bearing gifts, too
Art Film Fest will be handing out further surprises thanks to its partners, who provide the festival with support. One such partner is Hyundai Motor Company, also a sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Championships and by extension the football evening to be held Monday, 20 June at Košice’s amphitheatre. The first 100 visitors who come to enjoy the live broadcast of the Slovakia–England football match will receive exclusive gifts to help them support our team. After the thrilling showdown, the evening will continue with the one-of-a-kind documentary Ronaldo, on the life of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo – the Portuguese living legend.
Half-price trains to Art Film Fest in Košice
In addition to free municipal transport, the festival organizers also want to ease visitors’ journeys to Košice and back. To this end, festival visitors will be able to travel to Art Film Fest’s new home for half price. Art Film Fest’s main transport provider – Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (Slovakrail) – is offering film fans a 50% discount on railway tickets to Košice from any city in Slovakia. In other words, when accompanied by an Art Film Fest Cinepass, a one-way ticket will also be valid for a return trip using the same category of rail service. This discount will be available to every Art Film Fest visitor for the duration of the festival, i.e. from 17 to 25 June 2016. The special price applies to all Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko passenger trains, aside from SC and EC services.
ČSA to boost flights on Prague–Bratislava– Košice route
Another official festival partner is Czech Airlines, which is simplifying the journey to Košice for visitors and guests who prefer air travel to rail. “ČSA considers its cooperation with Art Film Fest as a natural, significant and mutually beneficial partnership. We deeply appreciate being able to bring international luminaries and celebrities to festivals of film and music. It allows us to present our product, direct flights to Košice, not only to the festival’s guests and partners, but to film fans as well, thus gaining new customers. We are confident that this will encourage festival guests to happily return to Košice in years to come,” says the company’s spokesman, Daniel Šabík. On the occasion of the 24th Art Film Fest in Košice, Czech Airlines has added six flights to its Prague–Bratislava–Košice route between 18 and 26 June 2016. With the new afternoon flights, the airline now offers three daily round-trips between Prague, Bratislava and Košice – a morning, an afternoon and an evening flight. In addition, direct flights between Prague and Košice will continue as usual.
Tickets to amphitheatre screenings can be purchased at Predpredaj.sk: http://predpredaj.zoznam.sk/sk/listky/5541/art-film-fest-2016
Tickets will be sold before screenings at all festival cinemas, as well as in inside the Historical Tram parked on Hlavná ulica by the State Theatre.
For more info, visit:
Art Film Fest – a new city, a new programme and new ways to have a great time!
Organizers: ART FILM FEST, s.r.o., Forza, a.s.
Co-organizers: The City of Košice, K13
The festival is held under the auspices of Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico.
Financial support: The Audiovisual Fund
General sponsor: SEPS
Main sponsors: HRP CBA Verex, Transpetrol, Slovenská pošta, Východoslovenská energetika, Slovnaft, Kosit
Official festival automobile: Hyundai
Official carrier: ČSA
Festival logistics partner: DHL
Official festival hotel: Hotel Yasmin
Sponsors: Herberia, Budiš, Imperator, Bratislava Region Tourism, Ida Sandor, HC Košice
Exclusive festival cinema: Kino Úsmev
Official suppliers: NOV s.r.o. Zebra, Stella Artois, Barzzuz, Tikoki, Livyna, Jean Charles-Cafe de Paris
Main festival transport provider: Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko
The festival financially supported by the EPH Fund, part of the J&T Foundation.
Official festival daily: Košice Dnes
Main media partners: RTVS, TV JOJ, Nový Čas, Aktuality.sk
Media partners: Rádio FM, Rádio Regina, SME, Korzár, JOJ Cinema, Rádio Košice, Film Europe Channel, Forbes, Kam do mesta, webnoviny.sk, TV Naša
Partners: Czech Tourism Slovensko, Autocont, Tabačka Kulturfabrik, Pan-European University, VIPERA, Translata, Congress Hotel Centrum, Predpredaj.sk, VISIT Košice, Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, Košice Film School
Product partners: Hotel Maraton, Casablanca Cafe, Carpano, The Cuba Libre, Digital Ocean, Hotel ROCA, Jazz Cafe
