THE SLOVAK Film and Television Academy (SFTA) awarded its Slnko v sieti (Sun in a Net) prizes on April 28. Awards were handed out to directors, actors, writers and technicians in eighteen categories. Special awards were also given to the best debut film as well as for long-term contributions to Slovak cinematography.
Vladimír Balko’s film Pokoj v duši (Soul at Peace) won five awards including best feature film, best actor in a leading role (Atilla Mokos), best supporting actors (Helena Krajčiová and Roman Luknár) and best camera (Martin Štrba). Soul at Peace offers an in-depth look at the struggles of a middle-aged man as he copes with a personal crisis.
Juraj Lehotský’s documentary Slepé lásky (Blind Loves) also took home five prizes including best documentary, best script (a joint work by Juraj Lehotský and Marek Leščák), best sound and best editing (both of the latter going to František Krähenbiel). The documentary describes the life of visually impaired people and their struggles to find their place in the world.
The big-budget film Bathory received awards for best actress in a leading role (Anna Friel), best artistic work (for director Juraj Jakubisko) and best costumes (Jaroslava Pecharová).
About Socks and Love by Michaela Čopíková, took home the award for best animated film. Ďakujem, dobre (Thanks, well) by director Matyás Prikler won the best short award, and best original movie music went to Michal Novinski for his work on Nedodržaný sľub (Broken Promise). The Romanian feature, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days by Cristian Mungia won for the best foreign feature. Best debut film went to Líštičky (Foxes) by Mira Fornay. The Special Contribution to the Slovak Cinematography prize was awarded to both actor Ladislav Chudík and script editor Albert Marenčin.
Sixteen features, 15 documentaries, 5 short films and 11 animated films were entered in this year’s competition. Submissions have increased every year since the awards were inaugurated in 2007.
