The Industry Days also included several training platforms with different focuses on film education, such as Pop Up Film Residency, Midpoint, Ace Producers, Emerging Producers, Film Spring Open, SOFA, Ex Oriente Film, Dok.Incubator and Less Is More.
A panel discussion about the Slovak Film Commission was also in the programme.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS SELECTED PROJECTS:
Projects in Development:
Bunker (Slovakia, Romania, Hungary)
The film directed by György Kristóf is an attempt to return to the essence of film and human communication and to non-verbal storytelling and images with no dialogue.
„Together with György Kristóf we've just come back from the European Market for Film Music Composition, where we met with music composers and we discussed a possible cooperation on the music conception of our film“, producer Katarína Krnáčová told FNE.
Bunker is produced by Silverart and coproduced by Romanian Libra Film Productions and Hungarian KMH Film. The project is supported by KULTMINOR and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, which provided 12,500 EUR for development in 2017 and 500,000 EUR for production in 2018.
„After successfully receiving a production grant from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, we continue to fund the project in coproduction with other countries as well as through transnational funds. At the same time we are working on other rounds of dancing and casting, fine-tuning of locations, intensive cooperation with dance choreographers, editing of the script and overall preparation for shooting“, producer Katarína Krnáčová told FNE.
The estimated budget is 1.5 m EUR and the shooting is planned to start in November 2019. The producers are looking for coproduction support, sales agents and festivals.
Ema & Death's – Head / Ema & Smrtihlav (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
Iveta Grófová took on the project Ema & Death's – Head, originally directed and written by Peter Krištúfek. This historical drama, an adaptation of Krištúfek's book of the same title, tells the story of Marika Sándorfi and a Jewish boy during the era of the First Slovak Republic in the Slovak-Hungarian borderlands.
„At this time, there is a very detailed historical research in progress, on which I rely with the adaptation of the script by Petr Krištúfek and during the preparation of the film,“ Iveta Grófová told FNE.
The film is produced by PubRes and coproduced by Total HelpArt T.H.A., and it received a 550,000 EUR production grant from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in 2017.
The estimated budget is 1,450,000 EUR and the first shooting day is planned for October 2019.
Fightback / Protiúder (Slovakia)
The historical drama directed by Peter Begányi wants to draw an unique portrait of the Jews through the story of Imrich Lichtenfeld, a famous Slovak fighter and leader of a legendary Jewish civil militia.
„Right now we are working on the screenplay. We've just got TV JOJ as a minor coproducer and we are still looking for other coproducers. We are in the process of finding locations and we are starting with casting calls,“ director Peter Begányi told FNE.
Fightback is produced by Piknik Pictures and supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, which provided a 17,000 EUR grant for the development in 2017. The shooting is planned to start in January 2020.
Homeland of Silence / Ticho na poli, ticho v dome (Slovakia)
This short film directed by Štefánia Lovasová observes through the eyes of children the rough world of farmers fighting for money and lands in a small village in Eastern Slovakia.
The project is produced by the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and its authors are looking for coproducers and festivals. Shooting is planned for June 2020.
Projects in Production:
How I Became a Partisan / Ako som stala Partizánkou (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
The main theme of the documentary directed by Vera Lacková is searching for the fate of forgotten Roma partisans.
„My goal is to bring to viewers a historical event that is not known. The Romani, together with the majority of the population, fought for their country,“ director Vera Lacková said.
The film is produced by Media Voice in coproduction with Film a sociologie, and it is supported by RTVS, ERSTE foundation, Múzeum SNP, KULTMINOR and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, which provided a development grant of 6,000 EUR in 2017 and a production grant of 45,000 EUR in 2018.
The estimated budget is 175,681 EUR. The premiere is expected next year.
Little Kingdom (Slovakia)
This feature film directed by Peter Magát and inspired by the successful performance Epic from Debris Company, tells the story of how people are able to cross the boundaries of humanity and save themselves.
The film is produced by FilmFrame and coproduced by Loki Film Production and RTVS.
Little Kingdom received a 250,000 EUR production grant from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in 2017.
The estimated budget is 900,000 EUR. The film was shot from November 2018 to February 2019, and its premiere is set for September 2019.
A Little Bit Utopic / Ta Monarchia (Slovakia)
The documentary comedy directed by Vladislava Sarkány is a collective village portrait, which reveals the image of a current moral crisis: cushiness, envy, racism with germs of extremism or total apathy.
„The tragicomic nature of life and the human characters are projected into the dreams of the protagonists and into surrealistic scenes,” the director said in a statement.
The film is produced by sarkany in coproduction with RTVS, and it received a 20,000 EUR production grant from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in 2018.
The estimated budget is 90,000 EUR. The release is expected for the end of 2019.
Team Building (Romania, Slovakia)
The social documentary comedy directed by Adina Popescu and Iulian Ghervas tells the story of a 5th league football team consisting of local people from a Transylvanian village in Romania. During one season, the authors explore the life stories of the players as well as the story of a rural community trapped in a small, anonymous and hopeless world.
We are basca is producing in coproduction with Leon productions. The project is supported by the Romanian Film Centre and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund.
The estimated budget is 222,871 EUR. Shooting should wrap in August 2019.
The Sailor (Slovakia)
The creative documentary directed by Lucia Kašová tells the story of Paul Johnson, an 80 years old sailor with drinking issues, who cannot live on his boat anymore. He is contemplating life and death while drinking a liter of vodka daily.
„The sailor represents a symbol of freedom and journey, the sea represents the essence of what creates and makes up our lives, the ship is the picture of the soul on a vast sea of possibilities, and then there is a motor, which drives us forth,” the director said.
The film is produced by Toxpro and its premiere is set for December 2019.
Projects in Postproduction:
Amnesty / Amnestie (Slovakia)
The political thriller directed by Jonáš Karásek is set in the Slovak prison of Leopoldov during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The story follows a world controlled by STB (Secret State Police), where dissidents communicate through secret messages and people report on their family members, yet wish for freedom and revolt in the streets.
The film is produced by Azyl production and coproduced by Endorfilm, HomeMedia Production and RTVS. The Slovak Audiovisual Fund provided 17,000 EUR for its development in 2017 and 800,000 EUR for its production in 2018.
The budget is 2,033,000 EUR. The premiere is expected for November 2019.
The Impossible Voyage / Cesta do nemožna (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
The animated docudrama directed by Noro Držiak is a special effects film depicting the life of the Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator, Freemason, and astronomer Milan Rastislav Štefánik. The film focuses on a period starting with his arrival in Paris in 1904 until the fatal date of 4 May 1919, when Stefanik died in a plane crash.
„Through the combination of different genres, we tell the audience not only what happened, but also what could have happened and we can do so in an unusual and attractive way,” the director said.
The film is produced by Media Film, Kabos Film & Media and coproduced by RTVS, the Czech Television and Tobogang. The project received 220,000 EUR from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in 2017 and it is also supported by the Czech Film Fund, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and the MEDIA Programme.
The budget is 730,000 EUR. The premiere is set for September / October 2019.
