“The selection of films for this section is always a chance to reflect on how far the world has come in a year—once shackled by communist regimes, now adrift in political, cultural, and social uncertainty,” says section curator Viera Langerová.
The International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe at the 2025 IFF Art Film once again presents a curated collection of works that explore cultural memory, contemporary challenges, and individual destinies. Each film echoes historical experience while offering a reflection on the region’s evolving identity.
The Slovak film AKCIA MONACO by Dušan Trančík reconstructs a dark chapter of postwar history—the infiltration of the French consulate by the State Security. This docudrama about omnipresent surveillance and persecution serves as a stark reminder of a not-so-distant past.
In stark contrast stands a present-day war testimony—Ukraine’s Honeymoons captures the invasion through the eyes of a young couple trapped in a deadly snare inside their own home. Directed by Zhanna Ozirna, the film is a chilling study of how quickly safety can turn into peril.
Poland’s Minghun bridges cultural worlds—the ritual of a posthumous wedding reveals how seemingly disparate traditions converge in times of grief and loss. The characters’ sorrow and despair, as they negotiate the meaning and preparation of the ritual, become a metaphysical journey toward accepting death and coping with the loss of a loved one.
The Hungarian documentary I Was Born a Servant follows the lives of two brothers marked by poverty, alcoholism, and helplessness, offering a sobering reflection of failed social systems. The brothers only attended school for a few years, learning to read and write at a basic level. Levante and his brother Csaba succumbed to alcoholism and struggle to break free from it. This longitudinal documentary follows Levante into adulthood in Romania’s Transylvanian Szeklerland, home to the Hungarian minority.
A more poetic and philosophical tone comes with Chronicle by Martin Kollár—a visual essay on landscape, memory, and human activity. The photographer-director is a keen observer of small everyday moments, seen through his unique surreal lens with a touch of gentle humor. Traversing landscapes across seasons, he places humans—working, resting, active or ailing—into their midst. The interaction is at once destructive and constructive. A visual meditation on the state of our presence in a land where everything begins and ends.
Bulgaria’s Windless delivers a quiet awakening of identity in times when we discard the past like old furniture. After his father’s death, Kaoljan returns to Bulgaria and must confront both the memories of others and his own recollections. Though not harmonious, this tension offers him a chance to return and reflect on what he lived and who he was. “An awakening of a rootless soul amid the remnants of an abandoned past,” as Bulgarian critics described it. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at Sofia IFF and was named Best Bulgarian Film of 2024.
The Polish debut This Is Not My Film sensitively explores a relationship crisis that culminates in a symbolic journey along a winter sea. Janka and Wanda’s marriage has slipped into crisis almost imperceptibly. She wants to understand what’s happening, while he resents the constant talk. Eventually, they opt for an unconventional reset: packing the essentials and embarking on a 400-kilometer trek along the Baltic coast. If they can’t make it, they’ll separate.
Also featured is the Czech musical celebration The Grand Finale of PSO—a documentary about passion, music, and the power of community in a small town. The Police Symphony Orchestra, an amateur ensemble from Police nad Metují, has reached remarkable heights. They became the first amateur group to play the Grand Finale at the international Smetana’s Litomyšl music festival, and performed at the Rudolfinum and Rock for People. The longitudinal documentary captures all phases of collective enthusiasm, exhaustion, and the tough balance between personal lives and professional dedication. A stirring film about the love of music, filled with the joy of shared performance before a captivated audience.
The International Competition of Central and Eastern European Films once again confirms that this region has a powerful, original, and authentic voice. You can watch the films alongside the jury during IFF Art Film Košice from June 20 to 27, 2025.
The 31st Edition of IFF ART FILM is made possible thanks to the support of:
Organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: City of Košice, K13 – Košice Cultural Centres, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST, n.o., LGM, s.r.o., FORLIVE
Festival financially supported by: Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Co-financed by: Košice Self-Governing Region through the Terra Incognita program
Main Partners: National Lottery Company TIPOS, CODES Brand House
Main Media Partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia
Advertising Partners: Best Press, U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media
Technology Partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, TelekomCLOUD
Official Suppliers: DKC Veritas, Kaviareň Slávia, PLOOM, Krušovice BOHÉM, Lucka spring water
Media Partners: JOJ PLAY, JOJ 24, Film Europe, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, See & Go, Czech-Slovak Film Database – ČSFD, BigMedia, Košice City Guide, Košice v skratke, Film.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk, MOJAkultúra, kino Sterio
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, Embassy of India in Bratislava, Carmeuse Slovakia, ECO Technologies, Košice Airport, Local Nomad Tours, Slovak Film Institute, DERMACENTER, Taper, Austrian Cultural Forum, Casa Trade – Casablanca Café, CPK Transport, East Slovak Museum in Košice, KPK Reklama, MIHYRING
Gastronomy Partner: TATRATEA
