Film producer Jakub Viktorín (left) and film director Michal Blaško (right) after receiving the best picture award for movie Obeť. (source: TASR)
During the Slnko V Sieti national film award ceremony on April 15, the movie Piargy (The Ballad of Piargy) was mentioned a lot. It received awards in categories such as best actor and actress, best supporting actress, screenplay, cinematography, editing, even the People's Favourite.
Slnko V Sieti 2023
Best Picture: Obeť
Best Director: Michal Blaško (Obeť)
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Judit Pecháček Bárdos (Piargy)
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Attila Mokos (Piargy)
Best Supporting Actress: Jana Kvantiková (Piargy)
Best Supporting Actor: Attila Mokos (Čierne na bielom koni)
Best Screenplay: Jana Skořepová, Ivo Trajkov (Piargy)
Best Cinematography: Peter Bencsík (Piargy)
Best Film Editing: Michal Reich (Piargy)
Best Music: Svetlonoc (Pjoni, Rob)
Best Sound: Juraj Baláž, Ivo Heger (Piargy)
Best Costume Design: Anita Hroššová (Piargy)
Best Visual Effects: Jaromír Pesr, Michal Plička (Piargy)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Anita Hroššová (Piargy)
Best Animated Feature: Tvojazem (réžia: Peter Budinský)
Best Television Film: Jozef Mak (director Peter Bebjak)
Best Documentary: Dežo Hoffmann – fotograf Beatles ( réžia: Patrik Lančarič)
People's Favourite: Piargy (réžia: Ivo Trajkov)
Yet it did not win best picture.
That award - as well as for best director - went to Obeť (Victim), which tells the story of Ukrainians and the Roma, two of the most negatively viewed minorities in the Czech Republic.
"Blue and yellow are to many what red is to a bull," said director Michal Blaško to the daily SME, in reaction to many Slovaks complaining that everything is about the war in Ukraine.
However, the movie started filming long before Russia invaded its neighbour.
According to the director, there was a poll in the public broadcaster Czech Television in 2018 that showed Ukrainians were the most badly viewed minority, surpassing the Roma. The reason was that they took away jobs from Czech people.
That is why in the movie the two minorities confront each other, with the Czech majority having to decide whose side to be on.
Piargy shows the distorted morals of society. It tells a story of a young woman who marries the son of the richest landowner in a village, but does not resist her father-in-law’s violent seduction.
Since its release last September, the film has won 56 awards and impressed juries at festivals in Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, New York, Milan, Hollywood, Amsterdam, Florence, and beyond.
Even though both movies dominated the categories, the reality of the outside world tells a different story, alluded to in the thank-you speech of director Peter Bebjak, who received an award in the new category dedicated to television.
According to him, he loves waking up and going to work. But he fears the first morning after the coming elections as Slovakia may become illiberal. The state of society, including its view of LGBT+ people, makes him anxious.
"No one has the right to take someone's life just because they are different. If we do not understand how people can be different, we should not judge," Bebjak said, calling on people not to vote for those who sow hate, symbolise corruption and spread misinformation.
