Cinematik - 7th Piestany International Film Festival
September 7 - 13, 2012
Piešťany, Slovakia
Cinematic.doc, a competition programme at Cinematik, showcases the latest Slovak feature documentaries, made from September 2011 through September 2012. An international jury made up of young European film critics and filmmakers will decide on the winner of the Film Europe Award.
Marek Šulík and Jana Bučka's Bells of Happiness - featuring two protagonists from an impoverished Roma settlement who share a passion for two pop celebrities - had its world premiere at ArtFilmFest Trencianske Teplice and also screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF. Šulík and Bučka also enjoyed solid festival presence with Cigarettes & Songs - the film was awarded at the 2011 SEEFest in Los Angeles.
Zuzana Piussi caused a stir three years ago with her controversial portrait Granny; Cinematik will screen Piussi's new documentary that is once again charged with potential controversy, albeit in the political arena this time. Disease of the Third Power looks at the transformation and corruption of Slovakia's judicial system.
Pavol Barabáš will present his latest adventure & climbing documentary film, Tales of the Tatra Mountain Peaks (Príbehy tatranských štítov) that tells the story of pioneer mountaineers who first set out to climb the peaks in the region. Barabáš travelled to Central Asia in his 2010 Mongolia - In the Shadow of Genghis Khan (East Silver 2010 catalogue).
In her first documentary film I Don't Think I Will Return, filmmaker Paula Sisková takes herself and her protagonists out of the comfort zone of their native land and captures the emotions and conversations during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Bells of Happiness
Zvonky šťastia , Slovak Republic, 2012, 62 min, 35 mm, DCP, Digi Beta, DVD, Creative, Drama doc, Entertainment, Music, Social Issues
Mariena and Roman are cousins. Despite the fact that each of them has her or his family, children and everyday life they are freaks in a settlement in which they live. They share one passion which has little to do with their everyday life – admiration of singer stars Karel Gott and Dara Rolins. They collect and exchange newspaper clips from tabloids, they rehearse together songs from the repertoire of their idols and borrow their identities under which they are known by their relatives and neighbours. In spite of all expectations Mariena is Karel and Roman is Darinka (i.e. girl is male singer and boy is female singer). One day they decide that they will sing their favourite hit The Bells of Happiness (“Zvonky šťastia“) and they will send it to them together with their own video-clip on the DVD. In this project they are accompanied by documentarists Marek Šulík and Jana Bučka. Thus there arise a mutual play in which roles of protagonists and film-makers are exchanged but also those of media stars and simple people from socially weaker classes.
Ex Oriente Film 2011 / East European Forum 2011
Disease of the Third Power
Nemoc tretej moci , Slovak Republic, 2011, 52 min, Digi Beta, Politics, Society
A political documentary about black holes in the Slovak judiciary system and about the state of law in Slovakia. The film from the backstage of the Slovak judiciary system is also an essay about a peculiar form of power that effaces itself in order to adopt a new name later - justice.
Tales of the Tatra Mountains Peaks
Príbehy tatranských štítov , Slovak Republic, 2012, 30 min, Adventure and Sports, Nature
The Stories of the Tatra Mountain Peaks are visually attractive documentaries about the history, climbing the peaks of High Tatras and about the people who were changed by them. In each episode, six peaks are introduced by a unique story, mentioning the first conquerors, political influences or personal stories of mountain guides and highlanders.
...I Don't Think I Will Return
...Myslím, že sa nevrátim , Slovak Republic, 2011, 84 min, Creative, Portrait
This documentary film was shot during the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It records a one-thousand-kilometer journey of four women which is full of joy, sorrow and suffering.