1993 Trenčianske Teplice (14-18 June 1993)
Art Film IFF was founded based on the initiative of the director and the screenwriter Peter Hledík. The first edition took place in Trenčianske Teplice under the auspices of UNESCO. It was an intimate showcase of documentary films that were screened only in the newly renovated Prameň Cinema. About 400 spectators, 5 journalists and 42 accredited guests watched 102 films during the 6 days of the festival. The competition of the first edition was divided into two categories. The main competition category was thematically devoted to documentaries about the Baroque, in response to the just-completed International Year of the Baroque. An important event of the first year was a representative screening of films by the British director Peter Greenaway and a workshop, which the director organised mainly for film school students.
1994 Trenčianske Teplice (14-19 June 1994)
The competition categories of the 2nd edition focused on documentary films and student films in two competition categories. A number of experimental, documentary and feature films from different countries were presented in the non-competitive categories. The main competition category and On the Road student film section included 39 films from 18 countries. Four non-competitive sections presented 27 films from 8 countries. Visitors also had the opportunity to see French and Austrian films about art, the program also included an Austrian retrospective category and a section dedicated to the classic Czech documentary filmmaker Jiří Lehovec. The competition was divided into two categories; the festival was held under the auspices of UNESCO.
1995 Trenčianske Teplice (23-29 June 1995)
During the 3rd edition of Art Film in Trenčianske Teplice, the Actor’s Mission award was given for the first time. The award is given to an actor who has influenced the thinking, lifestyle, and life values of his or her generation and generations to come. The Italian actor Franco Nero became the first ever laureate. Ten years later he returned to Slovakia and could visit his award plate attached there by himself. The main competition category and On the Road student film section included 48 films from 19 countries. Seven non-competitive sections presented 47 films from 11 countries. In 1995, the festival became the official venue for the centenary celebrations organised by the Council of Europe, which also took over the patronage of the festival.
1996 Trenčianske Teplice (21-27 June 1996)
Three well-known personalities of world cinema were honoured by the festival during the 4th edition – Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, her compatriot Alberto Sordi and the unforgettable Slovak actor Jozef Kroner. His daughter Zuzana received the same award a few years later. The competition was divided into two categories, the five-member international jury was chaired by Jiří Menzel. The main competition category and On the Road student film section included 44 films from 18 countries. Seven non-competitive sections presented 61 films from 10 countries. For the first time, the festival presented itself through its own website. It was held under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
1997 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (20-27 June 1997)
In addition to the Prameň Cinema and video projection, screenings began in the large festival cinema in the concert hall of the Spa Courtyard with a capacity of 700 spectators. The actress Geraldine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, received the Actor’s Mission Award. She gave smiles everywhere and to everyone and was a very pleasant guest at the festival. As well as Czech actor Vlastimil Brodský, who also received the same award. The members of the international jury of the 5th edition included, among others, the world-renowned Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi and the Czech cinematographer and director Jan Špáta, whose 8 selected films were also part of the festival program. Three competition sections included 45 films from 25 countries. Seven non-competitive sections presented 61 films from 9 countries.
1998 Trenčianske Teplice (19 – 26 June 1998)
A tribute to Swedish cinema, the day of French, Hungarian and Portuguese cinema, and 100 years of Czech cinema were part of the program of the 6th edition of the festival. The Actor’s Mission award was given to Irgman Bergman’s favourite actor and personal friend Erland Josephson. The famous French actress Annie Girardot enchanted the Slovak professional and general public in the very venue of the festival with her charm and directness. At the time, she had made a successful comeback to the film screen. Her role in Lelouch’s Les Misérables won her a César Award from the French film academy. The Hungarian actress Mari Törőcsik, who has played roles in films by some of Hungary’s most famous directors, was also honoured at the 6th edition. Three competition sections included 55 films from 25 countries. Seven non-competitive sections presented 79 films from 16 countries.
1999 Trenčianske Teplice (18-25 June 1999)
Three traditional competition categories (Art Fiction, Artefacts and On the Road) included 50 films from 28 countries, while seven non-competitive sections included 94 films from 18 countries. The thematic days of the 7th edition were dedicated to Austrian, Czech, Israeli, French, Irish, Polish and Portuguese films. A special collection of Dutch cinema was launched by the show By bike to Hollywood. The Actor’s Mission award went to the world cinema legend Sophia Loren, the Czech film star Iva Janžurová, Michele Placido, famous for the Italian series The Octopus, and Daniel Olbrychski, famous for his performance in the Polish film classics.
2000 Trenčianske Teplice (23-30 June 2000)
The program of the 8th edition was marked by the magical year of 2000. It was conceived under the motto of Film and the 20th Century and it also included retrospectives of great filmmakers such as Orson Welles, Juan Antonio Bardem and Ken Russell. The Actor’s Mission awards were given to outstanding actors of Czech and Slovak and also world cinema – the Czech actress Jana Brejchová, Ladislav Chudík and Catherine Deneuve, the French film actress and one of the biggest stars of the silver screen. Three competition sections of the festival presented 46 films from 27 countries. Seven non-competitive sections presented 51 films from 18 countries.
2001 Trenčianske Teplice, Bratislava (22-29 June 2001)
The 9th edition brought to Trenčianske Teplice the star of the French cinema Jean-Paul Belmondo, who personally received the Actor’s Mission award. Its other laureates included the Czech actor Jiří Bartoška and the first lady of Slovak film Emília Vášáryová. In 2001, for the first time, the Golden Camera award was given to domestic and foreign professionals of various professions related to film for their significant contribution to the field of cinema. The first laureates included the Slovak director Martin Hollý and the film critic and publicist Pavol Branko. Festival films were also screened for the first time in Bratislava’s Tatra cinema. In the competition sections, 39 films from 24 countries competed for the jury’s points. Seven non-competitive sections presented 86 films from 24 countries.
2002 Trenčianske Teplice (21-29 June 2002)
The 10th edition offered visitors a rich selection of films in the form of 131 films in 11 sections, of which 39 were in 3 competition sections. For the first time, the festival in Trenčianske Teplice screened films in an open air cinema. The Actor’s Mission award was received at the closing evening of the festival by Božidara Turzonovová, Boleslav Polívka and one of the symbols of Italian cinema, Ornella Muti . The director Juraj Jakubisko and the editor Maximilián Remeň received the Golden Camera award.
2003 Trenčianske Teplice (20-28 June 2003)
The war drama directed by Roman Polański – The Pianist – opened the festival. The popular Czech actress Jiřina Bohdalová, the Hungarian actor György Cserhalmi, the Polish film and theatre actor Jerzy Stuhr and the Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer personally received the Actor’s Mission award in Trenčianske Teplice. The recipients of the Golden Camera award are the Armenian director Don Askarian, the Czech-Slovak cameraman Vincent Rosinec and the prominent Slovak set designer Roman Rjachovský. Three competition sections presented 50 films, and the festival programme offered a total of 130 films from all over the world. The retrospective of Federico Fellini’s films, which brought to Slovakia not only reconstructed Fellini’s films but also films about this exceptional Italian director, attracted special attention.
2004 Trenčianske Teplice, Bratislava (18-25 June 2004)
The 12th edition was marked by several changes. In addition to the traditional location in Trenčianske Teplice, the festival has expanded to Bratislava as well. The part in Teplice taking place 18-22 June was traditional, having a festival and work character. The announcement of the results of the film competitions took place on June 22nd. The general public could see the award-winning, the most important and the most attractive films of the festival’s offer from 23 to 25 June in Bratislava cinemas.
In addition to the traditional competition and non-competitive sections, the section dedicated to Brazilian film held a special place in the program. Květa Fialová and Štefan Kvietik received the Actor’s Mission award in Trenčianske Teplice, the Golden Camera was awarded to the television director Vido Horňák, one of the founders of Slovak animated film Vlastimil Herold (in memoriam) and the Czech film music composer Petr Hapka.
2005 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (17-25 June 2005)
The festival was held equally in the two towns for the first time: Trenčianske Teplice and Trenčín. The Actor’s Mission was awarded to the Czech actress Dagmar Havlová – Veškrnová and the American film star Nastassja Kinski, the Golden Camera Award for contribution to cinema to the Slovak cameraman Tibor Biath and the Hungarian director Miklós Jancsó. However, this year was also a premiere in terms of the festival organisation. For the first time, the main organizer was the non-profit organization ART FILM and its producer was Ján Kováčik. Milan Lasica became president of the festival and its founder, Peter Hledík, the vice-president and the director of the Actor’s Mission and the Golden Camera. Since 2005, the awards in the competition categories were named Blue Angel, after the legendary film starring Marlene Dietrich. Seven festival cinemas held 130 performances, at which the festival presented 160 short and feature-length films.
2006 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (23 June – 1 July 2006)
170 films from 40 countries of the world were screened to the audience at the 14th edition, which was opened by Jacqueline Bisset and François Truffaut’s film American Night, in which she took the main role. The actress also received the Actor’s Mission award and this year Lubomír Lipský also attached the plate with his name to the Bridge of Fame. The directors Andrzej Wajda and Dušan Hanák left the festival with the Golden Camera award. In addition to film events in 3 competition and 15 informative screenings, the festival also held 23 press conferences, 5 workshops and seminars, 4 photo exhibitions, in cooperation with the Academe of Fine Arts and Design an exhibition of works by young artists Imagine! and dozens of live concerts.
2007 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (22-30 June 2007)
The 15th edition offered viewers 162 short and full-length, feature, documentary and animated films from 46 countries around the world. More than 170 film screenings took place in five festival cinemas. It also included eight live concerts, the largest of which was a performance by the Wedding and Funeral Band of the Serbian composer Goran Bregović, the accompanying program was enriched by two exhibitions, several installations, multimedia projects and performances by leading Slovak and foreign DJs. The festival events were attended by 25,420 spectators. The Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović, the French star Isabelle Huppert and the Slovak actor Marián Labuda came to Trenčianske Teplice to receive the Actor’s Mission award. The Golden Camera award went to the Russian director, actor and teacher Oleg Tabakov, the world-renowned director of Polish origin Roman Polański and the Czech director Jiří Menzel.
2008 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (27 June – 6 July 2008)
During the 16th edition, almost 30,000 people attended the festival and the accompanying events. Film fans could watch a total of 185 short and full-length, feature, documentary and animated films. In addition to the three competition sections – Main Competition, Panorama of the East and Short Film Competition, Art Film IFF also presented the New Chinese Film exhibition, the traditional Panorama section with hot new films, a selection of the best Czech and Slovak student films Yin And Young or a collection of documentary films. The novelty of this year was the Tatra banka cinema tent in Trenčianske Teplice. The Italian actress Chiara Caselli, the protagonist of the great films Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago Omar Sharif, the Slovak actor Ivan Palúch and the Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann came to Trenčianske Teplice to receive the Actor’s Mission award. The festival’s Golden Camera award went to legendary Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, the world-renowned Czech cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček and the Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi.
2009 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (20-27 June 2009)
The total attendance of the 17th edition exceeded 31,000 people. Film fans could watch a total of over 150 short and full-length, feature, documentary and animated films. The festival welcomed world-renowned actor Jeremy Irons, who received the festival’s Actor’s Mission award in person. The Czech actor Jaromír Hanzlík also received the same award. One of the most famous Italian directors of the last 50 years, Ettore Scola, won the Golden Camera, while the iconic director, the first lady of Czech cinema, Věra Chytilová, came to receive the award. The visit by Stanley Kubrick’s close producer, Jan Harlan, who presented the iconic horror film Shining, was also a unique occasion. Out of the 15 films in competition, the victorious film was the British director Steve McQueen’s The Hunger, which had received the Golden Camera award for Best Debut at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. The festival paid tribute to the famous Czech director Petr Weigl. The Czech creator of musical films, operas and ballets received a special gift from the festival, prepared by the organiser of the meeting, the actress Magda Vášáryová.
2010 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (18-26 June 2010)
In the 18th edition, exactly 240 films from 48 countries were shown in the festival cinemas divided into a record number of 17 competition sections, official selection as well as retrospectives and tributes to film industry personalities. The number of screenings that the audience could enjoy reached a record of 270. During the opening ceremony, Josef Abrhám, a Czech actor with Slovak roots, received the Actor’s Mission award and Václav Vorlíček, one of the most successful Czech directors, received the Golden Camera. During the festival, the Actor’s Mission was awarded to Milan Kňažko and the Golden Camera to Stanislav Szomolányi. In its conclusion, Gérard Depardieu received the third Actor’s Mission in Trenčianske Teplice. Among the many accompanying events, it is also worth mentioning the baptism of the book about the legendary Slovak director Pavol Bielik and the screening of the restored version of the film Captain Dabac attended by Ladislav Chudík.
2011 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (17-25 June 2011)
The film marathon of the 19th edition kicked off with the opening ceremony, at which the Hungarian actor János Bán, representing the legendary Otík from the iconic film My Sweet Little Village, received the Actor’s Mission award and the world-renowned director Emir Kusturica the Golden Camera award. They were gradually joined during the festival by Czech actor and screenwriter Zdeněk Svěrák and Zuzana Kronerová (Actor’s Mission) as well as the French screenwriter and long-time collaborator of Miloš Forman, Jean-Claude Carrière, and the Slovak set designer Milan Čorba (Golden Camera). In the International Competition of Feature Films, 15 films competed for the Blue Angel Awards, several of which have already won awards at well-known festivals. The winners were decided by a jury led by the Slovak film legend Juraj Jakubisko. The festival ended with the exclusive Slovak premiere of the only film by the Czech writer and politician Václav Havel, Leaving.
2012 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (16-23 June 2012)
During its 20th edition, the festival offered film enthusiasts 13 sections, including tributes to award-winning personalities, and prepared for spectators 157 films, 86 feature-length and 71 short films, from around the world. 184 festival screenings were held in six cinema halls. It has managed to bring up to seven of the films that most impressed at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The famous French actress Emmanuelle Béart personally received the Actor’s Mission award, and Miroslav Donutil, one of the most popular Czech actors, came to Trenčianske Teplice to receive the same award. Finally, the Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley visited the festival venue to also receive the Actor’s Mission award. During the opening ceremony, the festival awarded the Golden Camera to one of the most acclaimed Russian directors who conquered Hollywood, Andrei Konchalovsky, and Slovak cinematographer Dodo Šimončič. At the closing ceremony, the founder of Slovak animated film, playwright and director Rudolf Urc received the award.
2013 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (21-26 June 2013)
The core of the 21st edition was located in the town of Trenčín. In the Festival Park in Trenčianske Teplice, the Slovak acting legend Martin Huba and the world actress from Slovakia Barbora Bobulová attached their brass plates themselves. Art Film Fest also honoured the master life work by Július Satinský with the Actor’s Mission. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the death of this unforgettable actor, it also dedicated a special program section to him as a tribute, for which films were selected by the president of the festival, Milan Lasica. The festival also honoured two film professionals for their significant contribution to the field of cinematography. The Golden Camera award went to the world-renowned Austrian director Ulrich Seidl, whose films have achieved success at the most prestigious festivals, and the renowned Slovak director Juraj Herz. A total of 153 films from 48 countries were screened in thirteen sections.
2014 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (21-27 June 2014)
The 22nd edition screened 133 films from 49 countries during the seven-day film marathon. The Czech actor Ivan Trojan received the Actor’s Mission award and attached the plate with his name in the Festival Park in Trenčianske Teplice, as did the world-famous Claudia Cardinale. The Golden Camera award was received by the Oscar-winning director István Szabó as well as the prominent Slovak screenwriter Ondrej Šulaj. One of the highlights of the festival’s offer was the program section War and Film, which offered the audience a set of works that have already become genre classics – among them famous films by Kubrick, Petersen, Klimov, Tarkovsky, Lean, as well as Bielik, Hollý and Barabáš.
2015 Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín (19-26 June 2015)
The 23rd edition was held for the last time in Trenčín and Trenčianske Teplice. During the eight-day film marathon it screened 126 films from 50 countries. The program was divided into 14 sections, including tributes to award-winning personalities. The Actor’s Mission award for outstanding contribution to the art of acting in film went to the Czech diva, the winner of five Czech Lions, Anna Geislerová, and one of the most important Slovak actors, who has made a name for himself at home and abroad through his art – Juraj Kukura. The Golden Camera award was received at the opening ceremony by the renown Slovak cameraman Ján Ďuriš. During the closing ceremony, the organisers surprised the director and the founder of the festival Petr Hledík with it.
2016 Košice (17-25 June 2016)
After 23 years, the festival moved to the metropolis of Eastern Slovakia, where it found excellent conditions in terms of the infrastructure necessary for its organisation. During the nine-day film marathon, it screened 160 films from 57 countries, divided into 15 sections, including tributes to award-winning personalities. In addition to the traditional awards, since the 24th edition, the spectator award has also been added. The British director Sir Alan Parker – creator of unforgettable films and winner of numerous festival and film awards – was honoured for his outstanding artistic contribution to cinema. The Golden Camera was given to the British director by the most recent laureate of the Actor’s Mission award, Karel Roden. In addition to them, two other outstanding personalities were awarded during the 24th edition. The Golden Camera award went to the acclaimed British director Stephen Daldry. The Serbian actor Lazar Ristovski received the Actor’s Mission from his colleague Mirjana Karanovic, who got this award in 2007.
2017 Košice (16-24 June 2017)
During its 25th edition, the festival presented more than 170 films and was attended by many famous personalities. The Actor’s Mission awards were acquired by Ondřej Vetchý and Magda Vášáryová . For the first time, the Award of the Festival’s President – Milan Lasica – was given right at the beginning to Jiří Bartoška and Mária Kráľovičová. The Slovak director Dušan Trančík and the Czech director Jan Hřebejk took home the Golden Camera Awards from Košice. Since 2017, the traditional festival diary has been supplemented by a festival TV, which records the atmosphere at individual venues on a daily basis, as well as interviews with personalities from the film world and festival visitors.
2018 Košice (15-23 June 2018)
The 26th edition offered a total of 206 films from 49 countries, 268 screenings in 19 program sections over the period of 9 days. Another new feature is Azyl Festival – an international online festival of one- and five-minute films and video clips. The Festival President’s Award went to the director Fero Fenič, who also introduced his own section of his favourite films. The 100th anniversary of the birth of Ingmar Bergman, the great world filmmaker, was also a part of the program, and his son Ingmar Bergman Jr. arrived in Košice to mark the occasion. The Actor’s Mission Award went to the actresses Zuzana Mauréry and Ivana Chýlková, the Golden Camera was awarded to the Russian director Alexey German Jr. Miro Žbirka, who personally performed a restored version of the famous cartoon Yellow Submarine with his beloved band The Beatles, also enjoyed great attention at the festival.
2019 Košice (14-22 June 2019)
During the 9 days of the 27th edition, the festival offered more than 150 films, among them a number of premieres of domestic films and world premieres that have made their mark at the most prestigious festivals. For the first time, the program included the so-called industry programme, which consisted of film screenings and subsequent presentations or lectures by filmmakers, as well as discussions on filmmaking topics that resonated in our region. At the closing ceremony, Milan Lasica awarded the Festival President’s award to Štefan Kvietik, who received it from the hands of his long-time acting colleague Emília Vášáryová. The Golden Camera, which Art Film Fest awards to creators for their significant contribution in the field of cinema. The winner of the Golden Camera award is the Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó, who has won several awards at the Cannes Film Festival and has had a number of internationally successful films. Roman Luknár and Jiří Lábus received the Actor’s Mission award in Košice at ceremonies in Kunsthalle as well as in the presence of the public at the Main Square in Košice. The festival premiered a digitized version of the musical film Rabaka with the participation of Joža Ráž, Ján Baláž and Boris Filan, while the legendary Škoda 110 R from the film also arrived in the metropolis of the East as a sought-after prop for taking photos.
2021 Košice (23-27 June 2021)
In 2020, the festival had to be cancelled due to the global Covid19 pandemic. Despite various limitations associated with it, which persisted even a year later, the 28th edition once again brought exclusive film premieres that currently resonated in the world, films honoured with awards from prestigious festivals, as well as gems of cinema history. At the opening ceremony of the Art Film Fest, the Actor’s Mission award was given to the Czech actor Petr Nárožný. The festival president’s award was given in memoriam to the director and cameraman Jaroslav Siakeľ, one of the creators of the first Slovak feature film Jánošík (1921). The festival screened the film a day later in the packed courtyard of the Hangman’s Bastion (Katova Bašata), with live musical accompaniment by musicians David Kollar and Tomáš Mutina. During the Art Film Fest, a five-day workshop of the friendly online festival Azyl took place.
Not even a month after the end of the 28th edition, the only president in its history, Milan Lasica, left us forever.
2023 Košice (16-23 June 2023)
In addition to the traditional and proven festival program (8 days / 12 sections / 42 countries / 118 films / 148 screenings), the 29th year was marked by a tribute to the only president of the festival in its history. Magda Vášáryová and her granddaughters received the Actor’s Mission Honorary Award and a separate musical evening was also dedicated to Milan Lasica. The presentation of the longest film in the history of the festival to date was also exceptional – the more than seven-hour opus Satanic Tango by the world-renowned Hungarian director Béla Tarr. The winner of the Golden Camera award personally presented it at the end of his five-day stay in Košice. The Actor’s Mission award was received by Zdena Studenková and Eva Holubová in the warm atmosphere of the festival fans.
2024 Košice (21-28 June 2024)
The 30th anniversary edition of the festival presented 13 program sections, featuring 143 films across 171 screenings in 8 theaters, along with 54 additional accompanying events. This year, a third competition category was added to the traditional two competitive sections – the International Competition for Films from Central and Eastern Europe. The inaugural winner of this section was the debut feature Ultima Thule by Polish director Klaudiusz Chrostowski. Three distinguished directors were honored with the Golden Camera Award: Miloslav Luther (Slovakia), Cristi Puiu (Romania), and Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine). Another honorary award, the Actor’s Mission, was presented at the closing ceremony to Antónia Lišková, recognized for her successful career in Italian and later Slovak films, and Maroš Kramár. The organizers and representatives of the city of Košice signed a memorandum of cooperation during the event, committing to collaborate on the festival for the next ten years.