In the main competition films from Polish directors Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, Israeli director Yossi Madmony, Hungary’s Janos Szasz, Czech Jan Hřebejk and Vinko Brešan from Croatia all made the cut in a lineup that will include six world premiers and seven international premiers.
The selection of films in the East of the West section by young directors includes six debuts. KVIFF artistic director Karel Och told FNE, "Unlike the non-specialized main competitive section, the East of the West competition is a program focused on brand new films of first- and second-time directors from Central and Eastern Europe and as such one of the most important festival sections. Our aim is to introduce talented filmmakers emerging from our part of the world."
Lehotsky competes against Slovak colleague Peter Kerekes’s genre bending fiction-documentary Slovak/Czech/Croatian coproduction Velvet Terrorists/Zamatoví teroristi codirected by Kerekes, Pavol Pekarčík, and Ivan Ostrochovský.
Poland will send two films: Tomasz Wasilewski’s gay-themed Floating Skyscrapers/Płynące wieżowce, (Alterego Pictures) and indie filmmaker Bodo Kox’s comic drama The Girl From the Wardrobe/Dziewczyna z szafy (WFDiF).
Slovenia and Croatia team up on a pair of competition entries: Miroslav Mandić’s tragicomedy about an aging rocker, Adria Blues and Dual/Dvojina, (Prefo) by Slovene director Nejc Gazvoda.
Estonian director Kadri Kõusaar makes the competition cut with the Estonian/Finnish coproduction, the English language thriller The Arbiter. Romania and neighbor Moldova are coproducers on The Unsaved/La limita de jos a cerului (Saga Film) a look at the glum future for young adults in Moldava directed by Igor Cobileanski.
Other films screening in the East of the West competition are Paradjanov directed by Olena Fetisova and Serge Avedikian (Ukraine, France, Georgia, Armenia), Intimate Parts directed by Natalia Merkulova and Alexey Chupov (Russia); The Sea directed by Aleksandra Strelyanaya (Russia); and Withering (Odumiranje) directed by Miloš Pušić (Serbia).
Films in the KVIFF Main Competition
11.6 (France)
Director: Philippe Godeau
Bluebird (USA)
Director: Lance Edmands
A Field in England (UK)
Director: Ben Wheatley
The Notebook / Le grand cahier (Hungary)
Director: János Szász
Produced by: Hunnia Filmstudio (Hungary), Intuit Pictures (Germany), Amour Fou (Austria), Dolce Vita Films (France).
Líbánky / Honeymoon (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Director: Jan Hřebejk
Produced by: Falcon (Czech Republic), Ceska Televize (Czech Republic), K Film Plus (Czech Republic)
Supported by: The Czech State Fund for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography
Makom Be-Gan Eden / A Place in Heaven (Israel)
Director: Joseph Madmony
O ouro do tempo / The Value of Time (Spain)
Director: Xavier Bermúdez
Papusza (Poland)
Director: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Produced by: Agromedia (Poland)
Supported by: Polish Film Institute
Quellen des Lebens / Sources of Life (Germany)
Director: Oskar Roehler
September (Greece, Germany)
Director: Penny Panayotopoulou
Styd / Shame (Russia)
Director: Yusup Razykov
Svećenikova djeca / The Priest's Children (Croatia, Serbia)
Director: Vinko Brešan Produced by: Interfilm (Croatia), Zillion Film (Serbia)
Supported by: Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages
Viva la liberta (Italy)
Director: Roberto Ando
XL (Iceland)
Director: Marteinn Thorsson
Films in the East of the West Competition
Adria Blues (Slovenia, Croatia)
Director: Miroslav Mandić
Production: Gustav Film (Slovenia), Filmostovje (Slovenia), Senca Studio (Slovenia)
Supported by Slovenian Film Centre
The Arbiter (Estonia, Sweden, UK)
Director: Kadri Kõusaar
Produced by: Meteoriit (Estonia), Tugev Tuul Films (Estonia), Anagram produktion (Sweden), Film i Väst (Sweden), Film and Music Entertainment (UK)
Dvojina / Dual (Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark)
Director: Nejc Gazvoda
Production: Perfo (Slovenia), Studio Dim,
Coproduced by Beofilm (Denmark)
Supported by: Slovenian Film Centre, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Danish Film Institute.
Dziewczyna z szafy / The Girl from the Wardrobe (Poland)
Director: Bodo Kox
Production: WFDiF (Poland)
Intimnye mesta / Intimate Parts (Russia)
Director: Natalia Merkulova, Alexey Chupov
La limita de jos a cerului / The Unsaved (Romania, Moldova)
Director: Igor Cobileanski
Production: Saga Film (Romania)
More / The Sea (Russia)
Director: Aleksandra Strelyanaya
Odumiranje / Withering (Serbia)
Director: Miloš Pušić
Paradžanov / Paradjanov (Ukraine, France, Georgia, Armenia)
Director: Olena Fetisova, Serge Avedikian
Supported by: Georgian National Film Center
Płynące wieżowce / Floating Skyscrapers (Poland)
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Produced by Alter Ego Pictures (Poland)
Zamatoví teroristi / Velvet Terrorists (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Croatia)
Director: Peter Kerekes, Pavol Pekarčík, Ivan Ostrochovský
Production: Peter Kerekes s. r. o (Slovakia), Nucleus Film (Croatia), Supermarket film (Czech Republic)
Supported by: Slovak Audiovisual Fund, The Croatian Audiovisual Centre
Zázrak / Miracle (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
Director: Juraj Lehotský
Production: Altieria (Slovakia), Negative Film Productions (Czech Republic)
Supported by: Slovak Audiovisual Fund