The 30th edition of the Art Film IFF will again include the non-competitive Panorama section, which aims to bring the best of the world cinema from the years 2023 and 2024 to Košice cinemas. The Košice audience will have an exclusive chance to see the film All We Imagine as Light (2024) awarded with the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, as well as the film awarded with the prize for Best Screenplay – The Substance (2024). The program section will also feature a special presentation of the Spanish series The Messiah (2023).
The program section with the largest representation of feature-length films at Art Film will once again be Panorama. The section was born in 2022 and became extremely popular among the festival audience. This year will offer a total of eighteen films and one series. Among the selection of films will be the recent winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, All We Imagine As Light (2024). The Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia explores the female friendship of two roommates, Prabha and Ana. The film is significant for its strong social and political commentary. The director highlights issues such as class and religious differences, workers’ rights and women’s emancipation in patriarchal Indian society.
Fresh from Cannes, another award winning film is coming to festival cinemas. The Substance (2024) directed by Coralie Farge shook Côte d’Azur and won the prize for the best screenplay. Aging TV star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) gets the chance to try a miracle substance that can make her younger and more beautiful. However, there is one catch – she must share time. One week for her, one for her new self, Sue (Margaret Qualley). Every seven days. Perfect balance. Simple, isn’t it? If she follows everything, what could go wrong?
In the darkness of the Impulse cinema, series audiences will have a unique chance to watch seven episodes of the Spanish drama series The Messiah (2023). The series is not available on any streaming platform in Slovakia and its festival presentation is a specialty of the Panorama program section. The Messiah is a drama series with hints of a thriller and the presence of magical realism. It tells the story of Enrico, whose childhood was marked by religious fanaticism and the tyranny of a mother with messianic delusions. When he sees the viral Catholic music group Stella Maris on TV, made up of nuns singing to the Virgin Mary from their own home, the memories come flooding back. Determined to save these girls from the childhood he has gone through, he sets out with his sister Irene on a quest to find the members of this group.
The festival audience will also have the opportunity to preview the latest film Priscilla (2023) by Oscar winner Sofia Coppola. In 1959, fourteen-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Persley, ten years her senior, at a military base. Their meeting is fatal. Alongside the king of rock’n’roll, a life of glamour and parties, but also arguments and emotional manipulation awaits her. Coppola is the first American female to win the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Beguiled (2017). Her films often explore topics of loneliness, identity and relationships. Sofia is also known for her minimalist style and sense of fashion, which is often reflected in the visual aspect of her films. Actress Cailee Spaeny was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Feature Film for her portrayal of Priscilla.
Panorama will also offer an insight into contemporary documentary filmmaking. One of the most striking documentary contributions is the latest documentary Anselm (2023) by world cinema legend Wim Wenders. The German director has made a portrait of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most innovative and important painters and sculptors of our time. The film presents a cinematic experience of the artist’s work, which explores human existence and the cyclical nature of history and is inspired by literature, poetry, philosophy, science, mythology and religion.
The Czech director Roman Vávra made a documentary film about the tragic fate of Bohumil Modrý, the best hockey goalie in the world, called The Case of Bohumil Modrý. Bohumil Modrý’s successful career was destroyed in 1950 by a fabricated political trial. Along with other players from the national team, he was charged with espionage and treason and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in the heaviest category and forced labour in uranium mines. The documentary, narrated by his daughter Blanka, captures Modrý’s life from his sporting beginnings and global successes to the dramatic moments that left their mark on the entire family, and reveals the facts that led to the arrest of the admired “Bozha”, as he was called by his friends.
You can also look forward to other striking films in the Panorama section:
There is Still Tomorrow (2023)
Without Air (2023)
Wicked Little Letters (2023)
The Mammoth Hunt (2024)
Michel Gondry Do It Yourself! (2023)
Passage (2024)
Monster (2023)
Memory (2023)
Treasure (2024)
Sira (2023)
Footprints – Fighting in Banská Štiavnica (2023)
The Universal Theory (2023)
Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
Woman of… (2023)
The 30th edition of the International Film Festival Art Film 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;
Senior 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, SLOVAKIA TRAVEL, ANTIK Telecom, Cinema Úsmev, CORE LABS, Lucka spring water;
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, BigON;
Official contractors: DKC Veritas, Eastern Slovak Museum in Košice, Krušovice BOHÉM, BARZZUZ, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Restaurant Contessa, Café Slávia; 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, AUPARK Košice, Carmeuse Slovakia, JOJ Cinema, Hydrotour travel agency, Taper, YumEarth, KAIFER advokátska kancelária s.r.o., Deva, WITKOWITZ SLOVAKIA, Košice Airport, ECO Technologies, CPK Slovakia, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe, DC MEDICAL, KPK Reklama, Kvitok, HAIR Factory Košice, Kvety Garomi, Air Taxi, Tesco Stores SR, a.s.;
Financial awards partners: CANON, Filmarina;
Catering partners: Ohnisko – Fire Dining & Brew Bar, Pub u kohúta, El Nacional, Maiko Sushi, Café de Paris, Tabačka Kulturfabrik; BISTRO Blanc, Andiamo GROUP, BENZE; Red Velvet Cake Bar; Tahiti, Café Veritas
