The director Ivan Ostrochovský, the actors Peter Baláž and Zvonko Lakčevićas well as the director of photography Martin Kollárwill be available for interviews in Berlin. Being Ivan Ostrochovský's debut feature film, KOZA is nominated for Berlinale's Best First Feature Award by Berlinale Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.
KOZA portrays the journey of former Olympic boxer Peter "Koza" Baláž through manifold struggles and fights, an odyssey between defeat and hope that is inspired by love. The film features fictional story-lines, but originates in Koza's real life story. Featuring the outstanding performances of non-professional actors and blurring the lines between representation and presence, KOZA challenges the concept of authenticity.
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Screenings at 65th Berlin International Film Festival:
Sunday, 08.02.2015 / 20:00 / Cubix 9 World Premiere
Monday, 09.02.2015 / 19:30 / Cinemaxx 4
Tuesday, 10.02.2015 / 12:30 / Arsenal 1
Wednesday, 11.02.2015 / 15:45 / Cinemaxx 6 Press Screening
Friday, 13.02.2015 / 21:30 / CineStar 8
Synopsis: Peter "Koza" Baláž is a former Olympic boxer. He and his partner Miša live in a dilapidated housing estate, constantly struggling to make ends meet. Miša learns that she is expecting a child and decides to terminate her pregnancy. She pressures Koza to get money for the procedure. Koza, who has not trained in a while, steps back into the ring, hoping to earn some much-needed cash and possibly change Miša's mind. He and his manager Zvonko embark on a "tour", where success is not measured in victories, but in the amount of blows that Koza can take. The film features Peter Baláž, Atlanta Olympic Games participant, and Ján Franek, Moscow Olympic Games participant, as the coach.
Ivan Ostrochovský, born in 1972 in Žilina, is a Slovakian director and producer. He graduated in documentary film-making at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, after which he completed his post-graduate studies at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica. Ostrochovský is co-owner and producer at sentimentalfilm and Punkchart films. He is director of several awarded short films and is also the co-producer of MADE IN ASH (2012) by Iveta Grófová, which was Slovakia's official Oscar®entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category. His feature documentary debut VELVET TERRORISTS, which Ostrochovský co-directed with Pavol Pekarčík and Peter Kerekes, received the FEDEORA Award at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2013. Its international premiere was presented at the Berlinale Forum section, where the film received the Tagesspiegel Readers' Jury Award. His feature debut KOZA (2015) received the Works in Progress Award for the most promising project at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2014. The film is a production of sentimentalfilm and endorfilm in co-production with Česká televize, Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska and Punkchart films.
