How things lose their magic when we tell, not show
This year’s Visegrad Film Forum will open with a screening of Jan P. Matuszyński’s Leave no Traces (2021), which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 78th Venice Film Festival. The story, adapted from an eponymous novel, is based on true events that shook Poland in 1983, when a secondary school student was beaten to death by members of the Communist militia. The Forum will also present the director’s feature debut, the biographical drama The Last Family (2016), which premiered at the 69th Locarno IFF and won the Polish Film Award for Best Screenplay.
How to design an iconic costume
The American costume designer Debra McGuire is perhaps most famous for her work on the legendary TV series Friends (1994–2004), which brought her three Emmy awards. Debra also worked on the hit series Heroes (2006–2010) and New Girl (2011–2019) and the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Ted (2012). Having started her career as a costume designer for Parisian dance ensembles in the early 1980s, Debra transitioned into television the following decade and has been working in that field ever since.
Young Czech talents who have garnered international attention
As part of its varied film programme, the Visegrad Film Forum, in collaboration with IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava, will also offer screenings of films by Czech emerging directors. Adam Koloman Rybanský is a recipient of the Magnesia Award for Best Student Film. His short, Home Sleep Home, premiered at Trieste IFF. At the Visegrad Film Forum, Adam will present his feature debut, Somewhere Over the Chemtrails (2022), the story of a small village spurred to life by a mysterious van accident. The film premiered at this year’s Berlinale.
The Italian director Francesco Montagner studied documentary film at Prague’s FAMU. In 2014, the film Animata Resistenza which he co-directed, co-wrote and produced won the Bisato d’Oro and the Venezia Classici awards at the 71st edition of the Venice Film Festival. At the Visegrad Film Forum, Francesco will present his documentary Brotherhood, which premiered at Locarno IFF in 2021, winning the Golden Leopard at Cineasti del Presente Competition for Best Film. Brotherhood also earned Francesco the Best Czech Documentary Film and Best Cinematography awards at Jihlava IFDF.
Film professionals who have worked with world-class directors
The sound engineer Eddy Joseph won a BAFTA for Best Sound for his work on Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), which will screen as part of the VFF´s program. Eddy has worked on over 70 feature films, including cult classics such as Batman (1989), Casino Royale (2006), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and many others. He will discuss how sound can be used to bolster a film’s atmosphere.
Also sharing his experience and expertise will be producer Jim Stark, who worked on Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989), and Night on Earth (1991) and produced two short stories for the anthology Coffee and Cigarettes (2003).
Participation of international partner schools
The Visegrad Film Forum will also present films by students from its partner film schools. The screenings will be followed by discussions about cinematography as a whole, about the circumstances under which the individual films emerged, and about the professional training provided at the selected schools. Apart from the co-organiser, Academy of Performing Arts, Film and TV Faculty, the V4 schools taking part are The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek in Pisek, the Eszterházy Károly University in Eger, and the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School University of Silesia in Katowice. Also joining, from outside the V4, are The Faculty of Dramatic Arts at The University of Arts in Belgrade and the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinema.
About the Visegrad Film Forum
The Visegrad Film Forum is a networking and educational event bringing together film students and professionals from across the world. It provides a dedicated space for discussion about the essentials of filmmaking as well as about current trends in cinematography. Over a period of four days, the Forum offers a diverse audiovisual programme consisting of talks and screenings followed by discussions with respected industry professionals.
The Visegrad Film Forum (VFF) is organised in collaboration with IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava, which will take place on 16–22 March 2022. Cinepasses purchased for the VFF will also be valid for events organised as part of IFF Febiofest Bratislava.
You can get your VFF accreditations here: https://www.visegradfilmforum.com/accreditation/
Current measures
The Visegrad Film Forum is an on-site event and, as such, will be organised in strict compliance with all currently applicable epidemiological measures.
Visegrad Film Forum 2022
When: 16–19 March 2022
Where: Cinema Kino Lumière, 4 Špitálska St., Bratislava
Web: http://www.visegradfilmforum.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisegradFilmForum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vffbratislava/
The Visegrad Film Forum is brought to you by Boiler, NGO, in collaboration with the Academy of Performing Arts, Film and TV Faculty, the cinema Kino Lumière, and IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava. The event is made possible by the financial support of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the International Visegrad Fund, and the SPP Foundation.
