Works in Progress 2022

Dvadsaťsedem / Twentyseven

Slovakia – Hungary – Czech Republic, 100 min.

Fiction / in development

Director & Screenplay: Gregor Valentovič
Producer: Zora Jaurová (MPhilms, SK)

Workshops & Forums: First Cut Lab Slovakia 2021
Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund

Estimated Budget: € 900 000
Principal Photography: 2023
Expected Release: 2024

Synopsis

David (27) and his three best friends from high school promised that their friendship would last forever. After Hana gets married, Bažo moves abroad, and Maja falls in love with an adventurous traveller, David finds himself all alone. He is forced to embark on a new journey to find out that his adult life as a queer person might be inherently different than of those who grew up with him. Twentyseven is a film about the early-life crisis of the late-twenties, who face the finality of having to grow up, understanding that happiness is not to be pursued, and that home is just a state of mind.

Ema a smrtihlav / Ema and the Death’s Head

Slovakia – Czech Republic – Hungary / 100 min.

fiction / in production

Director: Iveta Grófová
Screenplay: Peter Krištúfek, Iveta Grófová
DoP: Martin Štrba
Editor: Martin Malo
Producers: Zuzana Mistríková (PubRes, SK), Ľubica Orechovská (PubRes, SK)
Co-Producers: Ondřej Trojan (Total HelpArt T.H.A., CZ), Sára László (Campfilm, HU), Marcell Gerö (Campfilm, HU), Radio and Television Slovakia, Czech Television

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Minority Culture Fund (SK)

Estimated Budget: € 2 087 000
Expected Release: Spring 2023

Synopsis

Ema and the Death’s Head deals with the precarious border between humanism and the protection of one’s own life in situations when one excludes the other. On the Slovak-Hungarian border, Marika Sándorfi is hiding a Jewish boy - Šimon Holan - during the dramatic First Slovak State era. The boy has a special ability to survive thanks to his dreaming and fantasy.

Invalid

Slovakia – Czech Republic / 90 min.

fiction / in post-production

Director: Jonáš Karásek
Screenplay: Tomáš Dušička
DoP: Tomáš Juríček
Editor: Matej Beneš
Producers: Maroš Hečko (Azyl Production, SK), Peter Veverka (Azyl Production, SK)
Co-Producers: Radio and Television Slovakia (SK), HomeMedia (SK), Cinemart (CZ),

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund

Estimated Budget: € 1 079 947
Expected Release: June 2022

Synopsis

It’s 1998 and Laco, a short-tempered museum janitor, knows that he’s finally gone too far when he tosses his teenage son’s beloved stereo system out of their third floor window. In an effort to make it up to his son and wife, he tries to buy a replacement, but instead falls prey to a gang of local thugs. Laco ends up paralyzed and in a wheelchair with his family and body shattered, alone and spiraling. Up to the moment when he meets Gabo, a kind-hearted Roma who helps Laco see things with a new perspective. Revenge is sweet when Laco takes justice into his hands, but the true victory is conquering his anger and winning back his family with the help of his new friend.

Katedrála / The Cathedral

Slovakia – Great Britain / 85 min.

documentary / in post-production

Director: Denis Dobrovoda
Screenplay: Denis Dobrovoda, Matthew Bremner
DoP: Gonzalo Hernández-Vallejo Fernández, Israel Seoane
Editor: Ona Bartroli, Denis Dobrovoda
Producers: Denis Dobrovoda (Kolsa Films SK, SK), Matthew Bremner (Kolsa Films SK, SK)

Workshops & Forums: dok.incubator SK 2021, DOCNYC Only in New York 2021

Support: ScreenCraft Film Fund
Expected Release: June 2022

Synopsis

In his twenties, Justo Gallego was expelled from a monastery. After suffering from a bout of depression, he decided to devote the rest of his life to God. He did this by selling his family’s land and spending the next six decades building a Sagrada Familia-size cathedral. He achieved this with no help, no architectural knowledge, and by using only recycled materials. But structural and legal complications led to the cathedral being declared illegal. Now at the age of 95 and with his health deteriorating, Justo’s desire to live is withering and the future of the cathedral and his legacy is in danger…

Milovník, nie bojovník / Lover, Not a Fighter

Slovakia – Czech Republic / 90 min.

fiction / in pre-production

Director & Screenplay: Martina Buchelová
DoP: Adam Mach
Editor: Katarína Pavelková
Producers: Michaela Kaliská (NINJA film, SK), Erika Paulinská (NINJA film, SK)
Co-Producer: Julie Žáčková (Unit and Sofa, CZ)

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund

Estimated Budget: € 405 000
Principal Photography: March – April 2023
Expected Release: January 2024

Synopsis

Lover, Not a Fighter is a desperate, funny, and cute love story about 20-year-old Andrej - who lives at his Grandma's apartment and tries not to climb high trees when drunk because then he cannot get down safely - and Miša - who doesn’t want to live in a nuclear shelter where her family plans to move.

Musíme prežiť / We Have to Survive

Slovakia – France – Austria / 90 min.

documentary / in production

Director & Screenplay: Tomáš Krupa
DoP: Ondřej Szollos, Martin Čech
Editor: Peter Kudlička
Producer: Tomáš Krupa (Hailstone, SK)
Co-Producers: Christian Popp (Yuzu Productions, FR), Arash T. Riahi (Golden Girls Filmproduction, AT), Radio and Television Slovakia (SK), ARTE G.E.I.E. (FR), PULS4 (AT)
Sales Agent: Taskovski Films

Workshops & Forums: Fipadoc Biarritz – International Pitches 2021, WEMW Co-Pro Forum 2021, East Doc Platform – East Doc Market 2021

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Creative Europe – Media
Estimated Budget: € 713 000
Expected Release: February 2025

Synopsis

Mankind is unlikely to stop climate change, but it can adapt to the new, harsher conditions. The human stories-driven We Have to Survive documentary takes us on a journey to the four corners of the planet. There we meet men and women who have already had to change their lifestyles and customs in order to survive and continue to live where they were born and raised. The process of adaptation to climate change’s impacts the protagonists go through is the basis of the film’s narrative.

Oči plné piesku / Gritty Eyes

Slovakia – Czech Republic / 30 min.

fiction / in production

Director & Screenplay: Juraj Janiš
DoP: Filip Marek
Editor: Marek Kráľovský
Producer: Barbara Janišová Feglová (HITCHHIKER Cinema, SK)
Co-Producers: Júlie Žačková (Unit and Sofa, CZ), Zuzana Balkóová (RTVS, SK)

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Czech Film Fund

Estimated Budget: € 220 000
Principal Photography: March 2022
Expected Release: February 2023

Synopsis

When a fifteen-year-old boy from a broken home gets sucked into a burglary that goes terribly wrong, he is brutally forced to reconsider just who he can really trust before it’s too late.

Pokiaľ ja žijem / Fakir

Slovakia / 90 min.

documentary / in pre-production

Director: Roman Ďuriš
Screenplay: Roman Ďuriš, Michaela Hošková
DoP: Michaela Hošková
Producers: Simona Bago Móciková (Bright Sight Pictures, SK), Radka Babincová (Bright Sight Pictures SK)

Workshops & Forums: Dox in Vitro 2020, goEast East-West Talent Lab 2021, Ex Oriente Film 2021

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Estimated Budget: € 172 000
Principal Photography: June 2022 – November 2022
Expected Release: September 2023

Synopsis

The feature documentary Fakir tells the story of a young man from a marginalized community who tries to gain better control of his life and helps make his family whole again. 23-year-old Romani Dalibor's seen and survived more than any of us can even imagine. To escape his traumatic past, Dalibor hides in a travelling circus. Fascinated by the magic of circus artistry, he finds a creative way that helps him overcome his inner pain.

Prázdna množina / No Elements

Slovakia / 20 – 25 min.

documentary / in post-production

Director: Barbara Vojtašáková
Screenplay: Barbara Vojtašáková, Ema Nemčovičová
DoP: Hugo Činčala
Editor: Petra Vrbová
Producer: Patrícia Alexia Pošová (FTF VŠMU, SK)

Support: Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Estimated Budget: € 7 665
Expected Release: May 2022

Synopsis

No Elements is an audiovisual dialogue between two young people. Four years after their break-up, they reflect on their relationship. They were reunited because of the joint film footage, and Michal’s desire to return to filming. The film comprises the mood board of Piešťany town, and the voiceovers of Michal and Tereza. We gradually discover the main reason for their breakup, and whether it’s possible not to feel emotions. Will one of them complete the project and turn documentary observations into a film with a story?