After ten years of unsuccessful attempts, the Golian couple finally have their long-awaited child. This happens in the midst of raging WW2, just three weeks before a major armed uprising erupts, which is to be led by none other than Ján Golian. The couple faces a great dilemma: heroism or family? At stake is not only the future of Slovakia, but also the future of their son. In a country still allied with Nazi Germany, the weight of responsibility for the course of events that will later be written in history as the Slovak National Uprising, falls on the shoulders of one man.
Ondrej Hraška, Anna Fialová, Leona Skleničková, Matúš Kvietik, Rainer Wöss, and Robert Ritter constitute the main cast.
“The production started on 8 August 2025, with 24 shooting days planned until mid-October 2025. The filming is taking place in Bratislava at the Old National Council, the Ministry of Transport, the Grasalkovič Palace, as well as in Svätý Jur, Sládkovičovo, the Austrian Semmering, and many other locations. The combat scenes will be filmed in two mountain ranges - the Carpathians and the Alps. We have a wide variety of locations, all of which are interesting, often unexplored, and artistically striking,” producer Radka Machalová from Slovakia’s Bright Sight Pictures told FNE.
The film is produced by Bright Sight Pictures in coproduction with Slovakia’s Bona Idea, the Slovak Television and Radio, Czech Republic’s Inicio Films and the Czech Television.
The Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Trnava Region, the Trenčín Region, the Nitra Region, the Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic and the President of the Slovak Republic are supporting the project. Private sources include the prestigious Slovak fashion brand Nehera, which sewed the costumes for the film.
The completion of General Golian is planned for the autumn of 2026. The producers aim to premiere the film at a festival, and then begin its theatrical distribution in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in August 2026, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising.
The distributor for both Slovakia and the Czech Republic is Cinemart.
Production Information:
Producer:
Bright Sight Pictures (Slovakia)
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Coproducers:
Bona Idea (Slovakia)
Slovak Television and Radio (Slovakia)
Inicio Films (Czech Republic)
Czech Television (Czech Republic)
Credits:
Director: Juraj Štepka
Scriptwriters: Juraj Štepka, Peter Rajčák, Jan Gardner after a story by Juraj Štepka
DoP: Juraj Chlpík
Editor: Peter Pisoň
Costume designer: Eva Rácová
Make-up artist: Martin Blizniak
Architect: Juraj Fábry
Production designer: Brad Bailey
Composer: Matúš Široký
Cast: Ondrej Hraška, Anna Fialová, Leona Skleničková, Matúš Kvietik, Rainer Wöss, Robert Ritter, Milan Mikulčík, Juraj Bača, Adam Jačina, Barnabáš Balla, Stanislav Staško, Roman Polák, Ondrej Kovaľ, D. Morávková-Zeleníková, Zoe Straub, Filip Oitzinger, Adrián Jastraban, Ondřej Brzobohatý, Jevgenij Libezňuk, Viktória Šuplatová, Juraj Vodila, Mojmír Caban, Paul S. Tracey, Peter Ondrejička, Monika Szabó, Matej Struhár, Jana Kolesárová, Štefan Richtárek, Matúš Hollý, Dávid Snopek, Ladislav Ladomirjak
