Festival of Czech film brings new fare to Bratislava

With most Slovak cinemas offering dreary flops like Blade, Psycho and Guru as their February fare, the Czech film festival Febio Fest 1999 couldn't have picked a better time to visit Bratislava.
Febio Fest '99 will hit the Slovak capital from February 15 to 20 at two small cinemas - Mladosť and the Nostalgia Film Club. Viewers who brave the absence of sub-titles and Hollywood story lines will be treated to a fascinating line up of new Czech films and Czech and Slovak documentaries made by professionals and students. Legendary Czech film maker František Vláčil will also be represented at Febio by three of his most famous films.


Slovak actress Magda Vášáryová in "Markéta Lazarová" (1967).
photo: Courtesy of SFÚ

With most Slovak cinemas offering dreary flops like Blade, Psycho and Guru as their February fare, the Czech film festival Febio Fest 1999 couldn't have picked a better time to visit Bratislava.

Febio Fest '99 will hit the Slovak capital from February 15 to 20 at two small cinemas - Mladosť and the Nostalgia Film Club. Viewers who brave the absence of sub-titles and Hollywood story lines will be treated to a fascinating line up of new Czech films and Czech and Slovak documentaries made by professionals and students. Legendary Czech film maker František Vláčil will also be represented at Febio by three of his most famous films.

"Febio has become a real trademark in the film world," said Peter Dubecký, head of the Slovak chapter of Febio Fest. "It uses documentary stories and personal profiles to bring to life extraordinary people and to comment on our shared destiny."

Founded in 1994 in the Czech Republic, Febio Fest is a non-profit festival that seeks to promote Czech film through tours in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Apart from its mid-February run in Bratislava, Febio Fest's Slovakia tour this year includes the cities of Nitra (Kino Úniverzita, Štefánikova 67, Tel: 0905-580 297, February 22 to 24), Banská Bystica (Kino Art, Nám. Slobody 3, Tel: 088-44 152 466, February 22 to 24), Žilina (Kino Klub, Nám. Ľ. Štúra 1, Tel.: O89-45 679, February 24 to 26), Košice (Cinefil, Dominikánske Nám. 8, Tel.: 095-625 3508, February 26 to 28) and Prešov (Klub Nám. Mieru 1, Tel.: 091-713 103, February 25 to 26).

This year's Febio Fest includes entries from Slovak festivals like Art Film Trenčianske Teplice and Poprad - Mountain Films. Other contributions come from students of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, the Zlín Film Academy in the Czech Republic and the Film and Musical Faculty in Prague, Vysoká Škola Umeleckého Prumyslu, Jihlava-festival of dokumentary film.

Febio this year is presenting almost 50 films, most of which are first showings of Czech films. "The main idea is to serve the kind of audience which has a taste for high quality movies and authentic themes," added Dubecký.

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