Slovak films at Berlinale

IN EARLY February, the 64th year of Berlin’s international film festival, Berlinale, will take place. This year Slovak cinematography will be well represented, in both the festival’s official programme and the European Film Market (EPM), which offers a current overview of the film industry.The Slovak film Zamatoví Teroristi (Velvet Terrorists) will be screened in the FORUM section, which features premieres of independent movies. It will be shown a total of six times, and will compete for the FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics) jury award, the award of the Ecumenical Jury and six non-statutory prizes, the Slovak Film Institute’s (SFÚ) press release informs. The screening will be attended by its directors – Pavol Pekarčík, Ivan Ostrochovský and Peter Kerekes – as well as the cameraman, Martin Kollár.

From "The Velvet Terrorists"From "The Velvet Terrorists" (Source: Filmtopia)

IN EARLY February, the 64th year of Berlin’s international film festival, Berlinale, will take place. This year Slovak cinematography will be well represented, in both the festival’s official programme and the European Film Market (EPM), which offers a current overview of the film industry.
The Slovak film Zamatoví Teroristi (Velvet Terrorists) will be screened in the FORUM section, which features premieres of independent movies. It will be shown a total of six times, and will compete for the FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics) jury award, the award of the Ecumenical Jury and six non-statutory prizes, the Slovak Film Institute’s (SFÚ) press release informs. The screening will be attended by its directors – Pavol Pekarčík, Ivan Ostrochovský and Peter Kerekes – as well as the cameraman, Martin Kollár.

Industry professionals will also get a chance to see the film at the market screening at the EPM. Slovakia will share a stand there with the Czech Republic and Slovenia, called Central European Cinema. Slovak productions and co-productions will be presented at the stand, as well as trailers for upcoming movies, press kits, catalogues, a newsletter in English entitled What’s Slovak in Berlin 2014, and an English-language issue of the Film.sk magazine, containing a selection of articles on Slovak cinematography.

Berlinale Talents, which brings together 300 filmmakers from 79 countries, will also introduce Slovak directors Andrej Kolenčík and Adam Oľha. Kolenčík studied film animation and his first short documentary, Hviezda (The Star, 2012) as well as his first short film, Výstava (The Exhibition, 2013), have been successfully screened at international festivals, as has Oľha’s debut, Nový Život (New Life, 2013).

Slovak films do not often make it to Berlinale: none have been screened since 2011, and the last time they competed in the official programme was in 1991. In 1989 Dušan Hanák’s I Love, You Love won the Silver Bear award for Best Director and the FIPRESCI Special Mention.

Velvet Terrorists – which will compete at Berlinale between February 6 and 16, 2014 – won the FEDORA jury prize at the international film festival in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary last year.

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