Seven days, seven cinemas across Košice, 128 films. The 32nd International Film Festival IFF Art Film Košice ran a packed programme from Friday 19 to Thursday 25 June 2026. It presented four honorary awards — the Actor’s Mission, two Golden Cameras and the Milan Lasica Award in memoriam, announced the results of three international competitions and of the separate FIPRESCI Award, recognised the audience favourite and hosted several world premieres. Here are twelve moments worth remembering.
- Actor’s Mission opened the festival with Anna Šišková
The festival opened on Friday 19 June with a ceremonial evening at Kunsthalle Košice, which also brought the first of the year’s honorary awards. Actress Anna Šišková received the Actor’s Mission for her extraordinary contribution to acting from Czech actress Jitka Schneiderová. In her speech, she described the Actor’s Mission as an effort to make the world a better place, and thanked the festival and everyone behind it. A second public presentation took place at Kulturpark on Saturday 20 June. There, artistic director Martin Palúch handed the award to Šišková again, followed by fans lining up for photos, often with warm personal words for Anka.
- Golden Camera for Peter Dubecký for saving Slovak audiovisual heritage
The opening ceremony also brought the first Golden Camera of the year to Peter Dubecký, general director of the Slovak Film Institute. The award, which the festival has been giving since 2001 for outstanding contribution to cinema and which was kept secret from the laureate and the public until the very last moment, was presented by director and screenwriter Fero Fenič. Dubecký used the moment to sum up the decades under his leadership during which the Slovak audiovisual archive was digitised: “Slovakia’s audiovisual heritage has been saved.”
- World premiere of the opening film Wirbel: a packed Kunsthalle
Right after the ceremonial part, the festival held the world premiere at Kunsthalle of Wirbel, the debut of young Czech director Tomáš Hubáček. Alongside him, the film was introduced by producers Marek Urban and Ján Macola, actress Judit Pecháček, cinematographer Alan Soural and sound designer Tobias Potočný. The premiere was attended by 550 visitors in a filled auditorium. Wirbel went on to compete in the International Feature Film Competition and for the FIPRESCI Award.
- Milan Lasica Award in memoriam to Vlado Müller
Sunday evening on 21 June belonged at the Historic Town Hall to the memory of Vlado Müller, one of the icons of Slovak film acting, who would have turned 90 this year. The Milan Lasica Award in memoriam was presented by Magda Vášáryová to his son, singer and lyricist Richard Müller. From his father’s extensive filmography, he chose for the festival programme the drama Custom Tailored Death (1979), which the festival screened again on Wednesday 24 June at Kino Úsmev.
- Lucia Janičová brought Everest and joined the Industry programme
The first Slovak woman to summit Everest, Lucia Janičová, brought to the festival the sixty-minute documentary Everest: A Mother’s Peak. It was directed by her partner in life, Scottish documentarian Paul Diffley. In the Slovak Season section, the festival held its world premiere on Saturday 20 June at Kino Úsmev and a repeat screening on Sunday 21 June at Kino Veritas. On Sunday, Janičová and Diffley also led an Industry masterclass at Kulturpark’s ALFA Gallery on shooting in extreme altitudes and on how to combine footage taken above 8,000 metres with GoPro cameras and an iPhone 15.
- We Have to Survive: Tomáš Krupa’s six-year shoot to a packed cinema
Slovak director Tomáš Krupa brought to Košice his documentary We Have to Survive, which he shot over six years across four continents as a portrait of human adaptation to climate change. The film screened in the International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe, ran for the FIPRESCI Award and met with a full house. A rich discussion with the director followed the screening.
- Slovak Season opened with the world premiere of Still Standing, Still Stuffed
On Saturday 20 June at Kino Úsmev, the world premiere took place of the hybrid puppet comedy Still Standing, Still Stuffed (Kuko, Drobček & Raťafák znovu zasahujú), directed by Andrej Kolenčík and Juraj Šlauka. The seventy-minute film brings back to the screen three legendary puppet characters from Slovak television history, aimed primarily at the adult audience that grew up with them. The premiere was accompanied by an introduction and a discussion with the creative team. A second screening followed on Tuesday 23 June at Kulturpark JOJ Cinema.
- Slovak Season: world premiere of Pavol Hirjak’s directorial debut
On Tuesday 23 June at Kino Veritas, the world premiere took place of The Last Season, the feature debut by writer-director Pavol Hirjak. The story of two young people who meet during the last three days of summer at Lake Zemplínska Šírava was presented by Hirjak together with producer Vladimír Sabadoš and cast members Mária Miklošková, Tadeáš Moravec, Barbora Kováčiková and Marko Igonda. In the Slovak Season section, the film screened twice in Košice to strong audience interest.
- Fatih Akin: “Watch more films!”
Five days later, on Wednesday 24 June, German-Turkish director Fatih Akin received the second Golden Camera of the year at Kunsthalle Košice. The holder of awards from Berlinale, Cannes and Venice was handed the trophy by the festival’s artistic director Martin Palúch. Earlier that day, Akin also gave a masterclass, during which he recalled his breakthrough drama Head On, the album Purple Rain by Prince and his upcoming projects. He left young filmmakers with one sentence: “If I had to leave them with one thing, it would probably be to watch more films.”
- Closing ceremony: Sir Tom Courtenay, Sandra Wollner, Imogen Poots, twice-honoured Made in EU
The closing ceremony at Kunsthalle on Wednesday evening handed out a number of awards. The Blue Angel for Best Male Performance went to British actor Sir Tom Courtenay for his role in Queen at Sea by American director Lance Hammer. The 89-year-old holder of three BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, two Silver Bears from Berlinale and a knighthood conferred by Queen Elizabeth II was not in Košice in person, but sent a video message to the hall: “I really am thrilled to have won the Blue Angel. I’m sorry I can’t be there with you in person, but I am 89 years old, and hopping onto a plane isn’t quite so easy any more.” The main competition awards went into the hands of Austrian director Sandra Wollner and the production company of her film. Her drama Forever took away from Košice the Blue Angel for Best Feature Film and the Blue Angel for Best Direction. The Blue Angel for Best Female Performance went to British actress Imogen Poots for her role in The Chronology of Water, the directorial debut of American actress Kristen Stewart. The Bulgarian film Made in EU by director Stephan Komandarev left Košice twice honoured — with a Special Mention from the jury of the International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe and with the FIPRESCI Jury Award. The Blue Angel for the best film from Central and Eastern Europe went to Georgian director Ana Urushadze for the drama Supporting Role. In short film, the winner was Kazakh director Camila Sagyntkan with What Have You Done, Zarina?.
- The JOJ Cinema Audience Award went to Piotr Domalewski’s Altar Boys
The JOJ Cinema Audience Award for feature films was decided by audience votes in the MyCinepass system. The 32nd edition’s audience favourite was the Polish drama Altar Boys by director Piotr Domalewski. The film about boys who take justice into their own hands in a Polish village was introduced by the director in person. The Sunday premiere on 21 June at Kulturpark JOJ Cinema sold out and on Wednesday 24 June the festival repeated it at Kino Veritas, where the room was again packed to the seams. The JOJ Cinema Audience Award was announced from the stage during the closing ceremony by Slovak actor Marián Mitaš.
- Sold-out cinemas: children’s hits, a classic and industry
The strongest hits of the year filled the festival cinemas to capacity. The highest demand was in the children’s section. The Czech-Slovak fairy tale Princess Stella filled Kunsthalle on Tuesday morning and Kulturpark JOJ Cinema on Thursday. The animated Bamse and the Secret of the Sea was also sold out on Monday and Wednesday. Among adult titles, the Open-Air Cinema also sold out for the neon-noir Drive (2011) by Nicolas Winding Refn from the Lukáš Berberich Invites selection, as well as the Industry screening of Via Slovakia. On Tuesday 23 June, the Blue Angel–winning Queen at Sea also filled Kulturpark JOJ Play. Further audience successes included the festival screenings of The Invite and Tuner, among others.
The 32nd IFF Art Film Košice brought 128 films to seven cinemas across Košice. Photo galleries from the entire edition are available on the festival website iffartfilm.com/info/photogallery/.
The 32nd IFF ART FILM was made possible thanks to the support of:
Main organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: City of Košice, K13 – Košice Cultural Centres, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST, n.o.
With the financial support of: Audiovisual Fund
The project was co-financed by the Košice Self-governing Region from the Terra Incognita program
Main partners: CODES Brand House, H2O FUND SICAV, Fors – stav
Automotive partner: AUTO-VALAS
Official hotel: Hotel Yasmin
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia
Sponsors: U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK Telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media, CORE Labs, Technical University of Košice
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, Datacomp
Official suppliers: DKC Veritas, PLOOM, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Reštaurácia Contessa, Natura, Kinley, Budweiser Budvar, Julius Meinl
Official wine: KubBo Select, Ostrožovič
Media partners: JOJ play, JOJ 24, Film Europe Media Company, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, AHOJ TV, See & Go, BigMedia, Kino Sterio, Košice City Guide, Košice V Skratke, MOJAkultura.sk, Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze – ČSFD, Filmsk.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk, Naše Košice
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, Slovak Film Institute, WITKOWITZ SLOVAKIA, DDDental, CK TUI ReiseCenter Slovensko, Wallonie-Bruxelles International.be, Taper, ECO Technologies, Aupark Shopping Center Košice, Košice Public Transport Company, Košice International Airport, YumEarth, Rent2Eat, CPK Transport, iWish.sk, Kvety Garomi, Hair Factory Košice, Face up! Studio by Michaela Petroci, Panta Rhei, ARTFORUM, LOCAL NOMAD, East Slovak Museum in Košice, MIHYRING
