Two Slovak films go to Cannes film festival

Two Slovak films exploring different aspects of moral questions are to be viewed at the Cannes film festival.

OUT by Gyӧrgy KristófOUT by Gyӧrgy Kristóf (Source: Courtesy of SFÚ)

After the announcement that the student movie of Michal Blaško “Atlantída, 2003” is to participate in the International Film Festival in Cannes – in the Cinéfondation section – another success has been published.

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The prestigious Un Certain Regard competition section chose the film OUT of Slovak director Gyӧrgy Kristóf, shot in Slovak-Hungarian-Czech co-production. The majority production is Slovak, with the producer being Marek Urban. It was supported also by the Slovak Audio-visual Fund.

The film tells the story of man in his fifties, Ágoston, who embarks on a journey around eastern Europe driven by desperate efforts to find a job. The trip takes him ever deeper into the sea of bizarre events and meetings.

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“The starting point of this story is a situation – alas, already a typical one in eastern Slovakia where I come form – where there is lack of jobs; someone who becomes unemployed thus loses a secured existence,” director Kristóf said about his debut. “To be on the road, somewhere else, nowhere, in a foreign country, means a temporary experience also for me; but the main driving force of the movie is the story of my father and other family members. I can watch this closely, I can feel it deeply, and it is reflected to a maximum degree in my life. I perceive this film as a debt repaid, and I consider its realisation my moral duty.”

The international crew includes also two Slovak actresses, Éva Bandor and Judit Bárdos, the Slovak Film Institute (SFÚ) informed on April 13.

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Plague of Ukrainian immigrants

The other movie, Atlantída, 2003, is a student film (a bachelor work) and a real story from 2003. When a young Ukrainian girl tries to flee the country with her boyfriend, he exchanges her for a passport to Germany with human traffickers. Thus, she has to work as a prostitute for three years. The story is based on a real newspaper story, director Blaško said, adding he read the interview with the girl and was intrigued about her feelings – as well as the feelings of her friend.

“The story took place in 2003, but it is still topical in its essence,” Blaško said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “Artificially created borders cannot stop such elements, only force them to cross their own moral limits to achieve their dream goal. People like her friend, Martin, are among us and we do not know anything about their past,” he added.

The fact that two Slovak films are to go to the Cannes festival proves that the country can be on par in quality with the rest of the world, filmmakers agree.

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