Art Film Fest and its president, Milan Lasica (source: TASR)
Between June 16 and 24, the festival will present a total of 176 films – of that 48 in competition – divided into 19 sections. There are two competitions in fact, the TASR newswire wrote: the feature film section with 11 entries and a short film section with 36 entries. Slovakia is represented in both; Filthy (Špina) by Tereza Nvotová and Out by György Kristóf compete in the features section, while in the short films, Atlantis, 2003 by Michal Blaško will vie for the prize.
OUT, a film by Gyӧrgy Kristóf (source: Courtesy of SFÚ)
“I am very happy that we managed to get movies that attracted world audiences at the most prestigious film festivals into both categories,” art director of the festival, Peter Nágel, told the SITA newswire. “This is the first time ever that two films with Slovak participation have been included in the main competition.”
The festival will be opened by the On the Milky Road film of Emir Kusturica, with Monica Bellucci in the main role. In the non-competing programme, films awarded at the Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Sundance festivals will be screened. This year also, there will be a section for children and Košice-native, documentarist and director Peter Kerekes and Art Film Fest head, Milan Lasica, will present a selection of their favourite movies.
Part of the festival will be the many accompanying events, including concerts from bands and musicians connected in one way or another with the films screened. In Tabačka KulturFabrik, Molotov Jukebox will perform, with actress/singer Natalia Tena and the Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat group connected with the films of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki will play there. Masterclasses with film personages, discussions with both awarded Slovak filmmakers – and the legend Juraj Jakubisko (famous for Bathory, among other films) a panel of Slovak professionals and more are on offer.
Director Juraj Jakubisko (source: TASR)
A unique event connected with the festival will be a special carriage with a capacity of 26 seats on the Bratislava-Košice trains which will screen the festival’s films on two big screens. The carriage will run daily during the AFF, on the Spišan fast train (leaving from Bratislava at 13:33) and the Čingov fast train (leaving from Košice at 6:08).
Films will be screened at several sites in Košice, e.g. Kunsthalle, Kulturpark, Slovak, Úsmev cinemas, Tabačka and the amphitheatre. The accompanying programme will be organised in the Main Street and in Aupark.
More information can be found at the festival website.
