Directly in one of the cinema halls in Košice, the organizers of the 30th edition of the oldest and largest film festival in Slovakia informed about its upcoming programme and revealed other names of the laureates of honorary awards.
“Art Film is already officially based in Košice. It is a symbolic expression of the fact that we have found great conditions in the capital of eastern Slovakia for the film festival, which belongs, as they say, among the family silver of cultural events in our country,” said Ján Kováčik, the festival producer, at the beginning of the press conference and added: “It is similar to football, in which area I work as well. They do well where they have the support of the local government. And it is great that among the partners of the festival this year we have also added a number of companies that also have an important position within the economy, whether at the level of the region or even the whole country. I want to thank all the supporters of Art Film, because they help symbolically write the continuation of a beautiful, successful and cultural story.”
The press conference was attended by the highest representatives of the city and regional government.
“Košice has a lot to offer in many areas – in the sphere of talent, investments, sports and culture. Our cultural centres – Kunsthalle, Kasárne/Kulturpark and others – create a creative infrastructure with a unique creative atmosphere that has no parallel in Slovakia. That is why it is natural and extremely welcome that Art Film has become a part of our city and that it will take place for the seventh time in the metropolis of the East. Today, moreover, we can talk about the historical chance and creative potential of Košice, as we are more and more often becoming the place of choice for filmmakers. The historic city centre and its genius loci provide an attractive backstage for film crews. We are therefore ready to face further challenges and we will actively, as before, support new projects in the film industry that not only bring investment but also improve the reputation of Košice as a city worth living and working in,” said the Mayor of Košice Jaroslav Polaček.
Film fans can look forward to a total of 171 screenings of 143 films from around the world (83 features and 60 shorts), which will be screened in eight cinema halls located in the immediate vicinity of the beautiful historical centre of Košice.
“In recent years, the Košice region has become a very popular destination for the film industry thanks to the systematic support of our film office, thanks to which an unprecedented number of films have been shot here. The International Film Festival is an ideal place where we can present the possibilities of our region to other potentially interested parties as well as to all its visitors – that is why it is natural that we support it,” said Rastislav Trnka, the chairman of the Košice Self-Governing Region.
At the press conference, which took place in DKC Veritas, detailed information about the program was presented by the festival Art Director Martin Palúch: “This year we are celebrating our 30th anniversary. Each anniversary is a challenge for the organisers to put together an attractive edition. We devoted all our efforts to the goal of preparing an exceptional edition of the event. We changed our identity from the original Art Film Fest to the International Film Festival Art Film. Through this step we want to underline its prestige as a renown competition platform in the film space of Central Europe. For this reason, we have also expanded the range of competition sections. In addition to the two traditional competitions, a new one has been added – the International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe. We are also pleased with the significant representation of Slovak premieres across both competitive and non-competitive sections. Festival audiences will see them for the first time in Slovakia. We will also present the latest releases from Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance and Rotterdam; films by Wim Wenders, Radu Jude, Alexander Kluge, Lav Diaz, Sofia Coppola, Levan Akin, Michel Franco, Malgorzata Szumowska and others, as well as significant works by young, lesser-known but innovative filmmakers. In addition to the film screenings themselves, we can expect premieres of Slovak films, ceremonies, masterclasses, autograph sessions, concerts, talk shows, presentations and exhibitions. Košice will be visited by former winners of the Golden Camera and Actor’s Mission awards, and the festival will host a number of film delegations.”
The rich program divided into thirteen sections will include the traditional Slovak Season and we will not forget the important anniversaries in Slovak cinema, which will be commemorated in the section of Anniversaries with the Slovak Film Institute.
At the 30th edition of Art Film, the already announced winners of the Golden Camera Award (directors Cristi Puiu and Miloslav Luther), who will receive them at the opening ceremony, will be joined by three other personalities, whom we are looking forward to seeing at the closing ceremony. The Actor’s Mission will be awarded to Antónia Lišková and Maroš Kramár and the Golden Camera to the Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa.
The Slovak-Italian actress Antónia Lišková was born in Bojnice and after moving to Italy she made a name for herself in her new home country. Her first film and television roles were at the turn of the millennium in C’era un cinese in coma (2000), Il tunnel della libertà (The Tunnel of Freedom, 2004), and in the series Il commissario (2002). In 2008, she was awarded the European Silver Ribbon for Best Actress by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists for her portrayal of one of the main characters in the Italian film Riparo – Anis tra di noi. She also received an award for her performance at the Annecy Italian Film Festival. Her first filming in Slovakia took place in 2018 for the series Mistresses by Jakub Króner and Adriana Krónerová. This creative line-up also shot the feature-length comedy films Happy New Year (2019) and Happy New Year 2: Dobro došli (2021). Antónia Lišková currently acts in Italian, Slovak and Czech films. In 2023, together with the director Gabriele Guidio, she shot the historical drama Terezín, in which Lišková participated not only as an actress, but also as a cinematographer and producer. She also acted in the Czech-Slovak fantasy miniseries Fortune Teller (2023).
Maroš Kramár was born into an actor’s family and began acting in television films already as a child. He debuted on the silver screen in 1973 in the medium-length film the Legend of the Silver Fir by the legendary Czech director František Vláčil. He graduated from the State Conservatory in Brno and became an actor at the Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra and later at the Slovak National Theatre. Among the many television films, let us mention A Trip to Youth (1982) or the new version of The Women’s Law (1987) directed by Pavel Haspra. He played the lead role in Dušan Trančík’s drama Iná láska (1985) as well as one of the three friends in Štefan Semjan’s cult film On the Beautiful Blue Danube (1994) as well as the chairman in Mariana Čengel Solčanská’s political thriller The Kidnapping (2017). He is one of the most cast actors in series in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The director, screenwriter and cinematographer Sergei Loznitsa originally studied mathematics and worked as a scientist and translator from Japanese at the Cybernetics Institute in Kiev. He later studied film directing and production in Moscow. In his documentaries and feature films, he deals not only with contemporary political issues but also with historical topics related to Ukraine and Russia. He has nearly 60 wins from various film festivals around the world, including Cannes, Chicago, Krakow, Jerusalem, Karlovy Vary, Leipzig, London, Wiesbaden, Tallinn, Odessa, Seville and others. He has four feature films to his credit: My Joy (2010), In the Fog (2012), A Gentle Creature (2017) and Donbas (2018). Among his many documentaries, let’s mention Austerlitz (2016), State Funeral (2019), Babi Yar. Context (2021) and the Kiev Trial (2022). At Art Film he will present his latest documentary Invasion, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Festival. Fans of film directing can also look forward to his masterclass.
The 30th edition of the Art Film IFF will also offer a traditionally rich accompanying program – a concert by Peter Lipa and his guests with songs by Milan Lasica, a Film Music Concert with soloists Mirka Partlová and Ján Slezák, a special festival edition of Milan Kolcun’s popular talk show Without a Whisperer and, traditionally, a public recording of the popular show by the presenters of Radio FM, Baláž and Hubinák. Visitors to the festival can also look forward to exhibitions of photographs by Ctibor Bachratý and Miro Nôta, an autograph session, a film media exchange and other events that will complement the already exceptionally rich festival offer.
The 30th anniversary edition of the Art Film IFF will take place thanks to the support of:
Organiser: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.;
Co-organizers: City of Košice, K13 – Košice cultural centers, ART FILM FEST, n.o., LGM, s.r.o., FORLIVE;
The festival was financially supported by: Audiovisual Fund
The festival is co-financed by the Košice self-governing region from the Terra Incognita program;
Major advertising partner: Slovenská elektrizačná prenosová sústava, a.s.;
Main partners: Národná lotériová spoločnosť TIPOS, Východoslovenská energetika, EUK-Force, SPP, CODES Brand House;
Automotive partner: PORSCHE; Official hotel: Hotel Yasmin;
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia;
Advertising partners: construction company Adefex, Jadrová a vyraďovacia spoločnosť, a.s., Best Press, U. S. Steel Košice, Betpres, Transpetrol, ANTIK Telecom, Cinema Úsmev, CORE LABS;
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, TelekomCLOUD;
Official contractors: DKC Veritas, Eastern Slovak Museum in Košice, Krušovice BOHÉM, BARZZUZ, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Restaurant Contessa, Café Slávia, spring water Lucka; Official wine: Kubbo Select and Ostrožovič;
Media partners: JOJ PLAY, JOJ 24, Film Europe, Rádio KOŠICE, aktuality.sk, Forbes, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, See & Go, BigMedia, Košice City Guide, Film.sk, Visit Košice, diva.sk, zenskyweb.sk, MOJAkultúra;
Partners: Východoslovenská vodárenská spoločnosť, Nadácia CEF, Slovnaft, KAIFER advokátska kancelária s.r.o., AUPARK Košice, Carmeuse Slovakia, JOJ Cinema, cestovná kancelária Hydrotour, Taper, YumEarth, Letisko Košice, ECO Technologies, CPK Slovakia, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe, DC MEDICAL, KPK Reklama;
Financial awards partners: CANON, Filmarina;
Catering partners: Ohnisko – Fire Dining & Brew Bar, Pub u kóhúta, El Nacional, Maiko Sushi, Café de Paris, Tabačka Kulturfabrik; BISTRO Blanc, Andiamo GROUP, BENZE;
