NEW films, new faces, and new points of view: this is what the organisers of the Bratislava International Film Festival (IFF) promise to cinemagoers, as the event enters its second decade.
Taking place in the capital from November 27 to December 4, the event is also hosted by Banská Bystrica between November 28 and 30 and Košice between December 1 and 3. The Aupark shopping centre will remain its focal point though two more venues, the Mladosť Cinema and the Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav City Theatre, have been added in Bratislava.
The format of the festival will also be slightly modified: in previous years the programme included only one competitive section but this time three will be available, one for feature films, another for documentaries and the third for short films.
Other sections include: Golden Panorama, with the best-quality films of 2009; Panorama Special, displaying various genres from Bollywood films to Hong Kong crime dramas; and Cutting Edge, presenting independent productions. A selection of Slovak premieres is offered under the title Made in Slovakia.
Probably the most important change in the IFF’s structure, however, has taken place behind the scenes. The post of the event’s artistic director, occupied for 10 years by Slovak journalist Peter Nágel, has now been given to Matthieu Darras, renowned French film critic and cultural manager who has also worked, for example, for the prestigious Critics’ Week at Cannes. He is, in fact, the person behind most of this year’s innovations.
“Our aim is to make the IFF a really international event with a rich programme that can draw a high number of viewers and cover a wide variety of genres,” he said.
“At present, Czech and Slovak distributors look for new films at Karlovy Vary [in the Czech Republic] – we would like them to be coming to Bratislava instead.”
Most of the movies screened at the 11th Bratislava International Film Festival are provided with either English subtitles or simultaneous translation into English. For more information about the dates, venues and ticket prices, visit www.iffbratislava.sk.
