In a Young Film-maker Festival highlight, Emma Thompson stars in"The Winter Guest," the debut film of British director Alan Rickman.photo: Courtesy of ASFK
After a 15-year break, Bratislava's Czech Centre- known before the fall of Communism as University Club Véčko- will again host a Festival of Young Film-makers featuring international films created by young directors.
The festival, which is supported by a variety of private foundations and commercial firms, as well as with public funds from the Slovak Ministry of Culture, will stage films owned by Czech art cinemas and Czech film clubs which are often difficult to see in Slovakia. The fifty-five films on offer will range from Russian and Czech documentaries to alternative American movies. They will be in a wide range of languages, including seven films in English.
According to Peter Dubecký, the director of Association of Slovak Film Clubs (ASFK), the low-budget festival will present films made recently which show originality or use modern film-making techniques. The festival, he added, is also organised by National Centre for Audio-visual Art in Bratislava, the Forum Foundation , the Czech Centre, the Association of Czech Film Clubs and many others.
A wide variety of films
Movies in the English language include some American films which may not even be familiar to Americans, as they were produced and distributed independently. They include Chungking Express, directed by Kar-Wai Wong (Hong Kong); Oscar Wilde, directed by Brian Gilbert (GB), Hard Core Logo, directed by Bruce McDonald (Canada); The Year of the Horse, directed by Jim Jarmusch (USA); Trees Lounge, directed by Steve Buscemi (USA); and The Winter Guest, directed by Alan Rickman (GB).
In Bratislava, the movies will be shown in four film clubs through the end of the festival on April 28. At Charlie's Cinema (Špitáska 4), films will be shown daily at 10, 12.30, 14.30, 16.30, 18.30, 20.30 and 22.30. At Filmový Klub Nostalgia (Starohorská 2) there will be two showings daily at 18.30 and 20.45. At Filmový Klub Mladosť (Hviezdoslovovo nám. 14) showtimes will be at 14.30,17,19.30, 22.30; at the Czech Centre (Nám SNP 12) at 15 and 18. The movies will also be shown at the Art Kino theatre (Nám. Slobody 3) in Banská Bystrica from April 27 to 29 and at Filmový Klub Cinefil (Dominikánske nám. 8) in Košice from April 28-30.
Movies of various categories will be presented, including the winners of the Forum of Young Film contest, 1986-1991, films by young film-makers of the central European region, alternative films, many of which are in English, a group of documentaries made by Czech filmmaker Lubor Dohnal, Russian films from the 1990's, and a documentary series by Czech Igor Chaun and Slovak Peter Kerekeš. Czech Television documentaries and amateur films made in the 1990's will also be shown. One recommendation if you understand Czech is the movie "Praha očami" [Prague by eyes], a film project shared by four directors which shows four versions of a relationship in Prague at the end of the Millennium.
The tickets and catalogue are available at all festival cinemas, and at Cinema Mladosť and the Czech Centre you can also buy a festival pass for 150 Sk which will get you a catalogue, enable you to watch all the performances in Czech Centre, and admit you to two special evening programs on April 26 and 27. In a special contest, two pass holders will win a week's stay at the Film Summer School at Uherské Hradište in Czech Republic (July 27 -August 1), well known for its amazing atmosphere and wide range of international movies. For the full movie schedule and further information contact http://film.gratex.sk/ASFK.
