The oldest, largest and most famous international film festival in Slovakia continues at the usual time and in the city that has been its home since 2016. Fans of film art can look forward not only to the traditional parts of the festival programme, but also to a number of novelties.
“The 30th jubilee year is also an inspiration for new elements in the established and preferred programme dramaturgy and orientation. In order to increase the international reputation of the IFF Art Film, we have decided to change the name of the event with the ambition to strengthen the international potential of the event,” says the Artistic Director of the festival Martin Palúch and adds: “In order to make the festival’s identity more attractive in the Central European space, we have created a new competition section that should promote the visibility of quality European cinema from Central and Eastern Europe. The international competition for films from this region is intended for fiction, documentary and animation films from eligible countries, thus increasing the opportunity for Slovak filmmakers to engage in international confrontation.”
Eligible countries from Central and Eastern Europe whose films can compete in this newly created section are Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Albania, Armenia.
The International Competition of Feature Films for filmmakers who have made their first, second or third feature film under professional conditions remains the dominant part of the festival program. The evaluation is under the responsibility of a jury of international experts. The Best Feature Film wins the Blue Angel Award – this year accompanied by a financial prize of 2000 Euro. Other awards are given to the Best Director, Actress and Actor. The Blue Angel, which is awarded in the International Competition of Short Films, will this year also be supplemented by a financial prize of 500 Euro. The Blue Angel will also be awarded to the winning film from the newly created International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe, together with a financial prize of 1 500 Euro.
Online submissions for all competition categories will be launched via a separate sub-page at www.iffartfilm.com from 1 December 2023.
The rebranding of the festival’s logo is directly related to the updated name of the festival, which preserves the elements of the previous one and at the same time emphasizes the uniqueness of the 30th anniversary edition of the IFF Art Film.
