Slovakia

Synopsis:
Lena is seventeen years old and is on the threshold of entering adult life, but her growing up is brutally interrupted by a horrific event. Devastated, she goes into her shell and is scared to share her experience with others.Read More »

Quote:
Caught in a web of censorship created in the 1960s Czechoslovak Communist state – which molded his experiences of delayed production and filmic content – Solan treated filmmaking as a study of cases, satirical testimonies balanced between absurdity and despair. Hence, the apparently simple tale of the rise of a man who plays the triangle in the orchestra reveals the structures and contradictions of an entire regime, just like the hulking unfinished structure that haunts the orchestra’s practices.Read More »

Quote:
One winter’s night in a Slovak mountain resort, customers gather in a nightclub seeking laughter, flirtation and fun. As the alcohol flows the evening unfolds in unpredictable ways, revealed through snatches of conversation and often absurd encounters. Using improvisation and multi-camera shooting, the film achieves a remarkable intimacy. But under its charming surface, it offers a sharp critique of life under communism, as the characters gradually reveal their unfulfilled dreams, insecurities and disappointments. Long suppressed, the film is now regarded as one of the undiscovered gems of Slovak cinema.Read More »

A young Polish deserter and gifted organist finds shelter from the fascists in a Slovak Franciscan monastery. He gets into a conflict with the local organist and choir leader, a man limited in his world views and spiritual values.Read More »

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A devoted father whose life is shattered by a single tragic mistake, pushing his marriage and his will to live to the brink. Facing a long prison sentence, he begins to realise that his failure may be rooted deep in the architecture of the human mind.Read More »

“It all began under the Frankenstein castle. It was my tenth year with this circus troupe, and we were passing through a bleak territory of vampires, will-o’-the-wisps and water sprites,” observes young orphan Max (Martin Hrebeň), just before he runs away and hides out in the ruins of the nearby castle. There he discovers a rogues’ gallery of lonely monsters who’ve made it their home: gruesome but loveable Alojz (Eddie Constantine, Lemmy Caution from Godard’s ALPHAVILLE); the marvelous Ferdinand Mayne (Polanski’s THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS) as Count Dracula; a wonderful, whiskey-voiced Viveca Lindfors (THE DAMNED, STARGATE) as the Countess Frankenstein; Gerhardt Karzel as the irresistibly goofy Frankenstein’s Monster named Albert; along with the ghostly white lady Elizabeth Bathory (Mercedes Sampietro) and other assorted phantoms. A bittersweet, slapstick cross between MONSTER SQUAD, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and the Island of Misfit Toys, FRECKLED MAX is a nostalgic Gothic fairytale about broken hearts and monsters who long to be loved for who they are – and a truly delightful discovery for genre fans.Read More »

“Ema a smrtihlav offers a unique perspective on the psychological costs of survival, avoiding melodrama for a more intimate and thought-provoking experience…”

Synopsis:
Marika, a widow with Hungarian roots, struggles after her dressmaking salon closes. Her life exists in a delicate balance until she encounters Šimon, a Jewish boy. By choosing to protect him during dangerous times, Marika transforms her vulnerable situation. Her choice introduces intense personal and political complexity to her world.Read More »

The May 1961 premiere of The Song of the Gray Dove (Piesen o sivom holubovi, 1960) directed by Stanislav Barabas (1924-1994) marked the start of filmmakers’ use of ideologically unassailable themes (in this case, the Slovak National Uprising) to tell stories that were true-to-life and yet were filmed creatively. The Song of the Gray Dove rejected the narrative topics loved by Palo Bielik, who was the most creative member of the founding generation of filmmakers. By using boys as his heroes, Barabas was able to concentrate more on children’s fears, games, and happiness, which had not vanished even during the war years, rather than on reeducating viewers. Critics took notice of the film (it won the 1961 Czechoslovak Film Critics’ Award together with the Czech film People Live Here Too [Vsude zijí lidé; dir. Jirí Hanibal and Stepán Skalsky, 1960) because of its intimate storytelling—six stories loosely connected by child-heroes—and its premise that children’s distorted reality can be more truthful than a so-called objective reconstruction of history.Read More »

Hundreds of teenagers join the Slovak Recruits paramilitary group to get ready for the final clash of civilizations and to fight whoever invades their country.Read More »