- Occupation
Director - Country
Slovak Republic
Vojtek Jaro
Here We Are
After WW2, the Krnáč family moved from Central Slovakia to Sub-Carpathian Russia. Later, under the Khrushchev decrees, it was forcibly transferred to a village in the middle of the Kazakhstan steps. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Krnáč sisters and their families decided to return to their parents' homeland, a country which they believed to be so clean that it was devoid of flies. According to family legend it was a wealthy land of opportunity. They left Kazakhstan and full of ideals arrived in Slovakia, where they not only found flies, but also poverty and unemployment. After a while, they found work and their children started going to school. However, they remained disenchanted and homesick for the country where they had spent their entire lives. Their father Dimitrij then took a trip to Kazakhstan, but even here he noticed major changes and growing poverty, which convinced him that the decision to move to Slovakia was correct; his inner peace was not restored, however. Jaroslav Vojtek's engaging documentary allows the audience the opportunity to confront standards of living in two post-Communist countries. It is also a sensitive examination of Dimitrij, whose face reflects the soul of a person uprooted from his homeland, unable to find harmony because he will forever be a foreigner, no matter where he lays his head. Not only a thrilling journey to rediscover the meaning of life, it also a deep contemplation of the importance that concepts such as homeland, nature, family, memory and the past play in an individual's life.
The Border
During the night of August 30, 1946, the village of Slemence on the eastern European border, was divided by the Red Army into two parts. One part, Veľké Slemence, remained in Slovakia [former Czechoslovakia]; the other part was renamed Malé Slemence and became a part of Ukraine [in the former Soviet Union]. The absurdly demarked border, similar to the famed Berlin Wall, divides estates, the cemetery, and closest families up to this day. This documentary pictures the bitter experience of people from Slemence, who dream of the opening of the most closely-watched border of the European Union.
Journey to our Dreams
What our dreams are? Is it possible for a man in the world of medial delusions and endless infirming of each claim to identify with any idea? So, what our biggest dream is? By claiming this simple question to different people, we are trying to impart about the fact how Slovak people think and what do they prefer 17 years after the "velvet revolution". The material for the documentary was shot between 2004-2006.
Back Passing
This film tells a story of a Roma boy, David, who wants to take a part in an international football tournament. David asks his father for support, but he preffers his guitar and bottle of alcohol... The football team is composed of white and Roma boys. The Roma coach tries to engage also the boys from a detention home. Will David become a member of this football team?
The Gypsy Vote
A documentary featuring a Gypsy leader Vlado Sendrei and his team in an attempt to win elections in “white” Slovakia. What are the odds that the Roma activist Vlado Sendrei and his election team succeeds in a society of “white majority”? Despite expert help from an American foundation, one experiences an unbelievably lively campaign, tragicomical moments, and a glimpse into Roma ghettoes on the verge of society. Vlado's wife Jana openly claims her husband's activities are harmful to his family and Roma values, increasing tensions between them. The Big Day - election day - turns the emotions upside down. The new film by Jaro Vojtek renders a world of deception, and it's only the Gypsy fortune-teller who tells the truth!
Out of Round: What Is Behind?
After the festival success of his films "Here We Are" and "The Border", documentary filmmaker Jaro Vojtek returns with the short social documentary "Out of Round". The main protagonist is a Roma man called Jožo/Fero whose addiction has taken everything from him and pushed him and his family onto the edge of society. Marked by difficult fate, he is still an eternal child whose best friend is Nemo the dog. Despite his primary backwardness he feels mentally superior to other members of his family and is the only one who makes an effort to return to normal life.
After WW2, the Krnáč family moved from Central Slovakia to Sub-Carpathian Russia. Later, under the Khrushchev decrees, it was forcibly transferred to a village in the middle of the Kazakhstan steps. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Krnáč sisters and their families decided to return to their parents' homeland, a country which they believed to be so clean that it was devoid of flies. According to family legend it was a wealthy land of opportunity. They left Kazakhstan and full of ideals arrived in Slovakia, where they not only found flies, but also poverty and unemployment. After a while, they found work and their children started going to school. However, they remained disenchanted and homesick for the country where they had spent their entire lives. Their father Dimitrij then took a trip to Kazakhstan, but even here he noticed major changes and growing poverty, which convinced him that the decision to move to Slovakia was correct; his inner peace was not restored, however. Jaroslav Vojtek's engaging documentary allows the audience the opportunity to confront standards of living in two post-Communist countries. It is also a sensitive examination of Dimitrij, whose face reflects the soul of a person uprooted from his homeland, unable to find harmony because he will forever be a foreigner, no matter where he lays his head. Not only a thrilling journey to rediscover the meaning of life, it also a deep contemplation of the importance that concepts such as homeland, nature, family, memory and the past play in an individual's life.
The Border
During the night of August 30, 1946, the village of Slemence on the eastern European border, was divided by the Red Army into two parts. One part, Veľké Slemence, remained in Slovakia [former Czechoslovakia]; the other part was renamed Malé Slemence and became a part of Ukraine [in the former Soviet Union]. The absurdly demarked border, similar to the famed Berlin Wall, divides estates, the cemetery, and closest families up to this day. This documentary pictures the bitter experience of people from Slemence, who dream of the opening of the most closely-watched border of the European Union.
Journey to our Dreams
What our dreams are? Is it possible for a man in the world of medial delusions and endless infirming of each claim to identify with any idea? So, what our biggest dream is? By claiming this simple question to different people, we are trying to impart about the fact how Slovak people think and what do they prefer 17 years after the "velvet revolution". The material for the documentary was shot between 2004-2006.
Back Passing
This film tells a story of a Roma boy, David, who wants to take a part in an international football tournament. David asks his father for support, but he preffers his guitar and bottle of alcohol... The football team is composed of white and Roma boys. The Roma coach tries to engage also the boys from a detention home. Will David become a member of this football team?
The Gypsy Vote
A documentary featuring a Gypsy leader Vlado Sendrei and his team in an attempt to win elections in “white” Slovakia. What are the odds that the Roma activist Vlado Sendrei and his election team succeeds in a society of “white majority”? Despite expert help from an American foundation, one experiences an unbelievably lively campaign, tragicomical moments, and a glimpse into Roma ghettoes on the verge of society. Vlado's wife Jana openly claims her husband's activities are harmful to his family and Roma values, increasing tensions between them. The Big Day - election day - turns the emotions upside down. The new film by Jaro Vojtek renders a world of deception, and it's only the Gypsy fortune-teller who tells the truth!
Out of Round: What Is Behind?
After the festival success of his films "Here We Are" and "The Border", documentary filmmaker Jaro Vojtek returns with the short social documentary "Out of Round". The main protagonist is a Roma man called Jožo/Fero whose addiction has taken everything from him and pushed him and his family onto the edge of society. Marked by difficult fate, he is still an eternal child whose best friend is Nemo the dog. Despite his primary backwardness he feels mentally superior to other members of his family and is the only one who makes an effort to return to normal life.
Jaroslav VOJTEK (1968, Slovakia) graduated in documentary direction from Bratislava’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts (VŠMU). He made short documentaries, short fiction films and long documentaries like Here We Are (2005), about a Slovak family that returns from Kazakhstan to Slovakia. His long documentary The Border (2009) has Slovak National Nomination for Oscar 2011 - Best Foreign Language Film. His latest movie is Out of Round: What Is Behind? (2010).
He debuted in 1993 with the short documentary Slepá viera (Blind Faith), a portrait of a gravedigger loyal to socialist ideals. His short feature film Rojkovia (Dreamers) is part of the feature-length project Šest statečných (The Magnificent Six), screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF 2000. Vojtek´s debut feature-length documentary about an originally Slovak family returning from Kazakhstan back to Slovakia My Zdes! (Here We Are,) premiered in Karlovy Vary in 2005, Hranica (The Border), documenting a Slovak village which fell victim to an absurdly demarked borderline of the Soviet Red Army, was awarded the Best East European Documentary at IDFF Jihlava 2009.Cigáni idú do volieb (The Gypsy Vote) is a natural result of the long-term friendship and professional relationship with Vlado Sendrei, who has been the main character and/or subject in a number of Vojtek´s film projects.
Docu Talents from the East 2005 - 2005
2005 - Here we are / My zdes
• After the split of the USSR, Kazakhstan family with slovak predecessors decided to move back to Europe, to Slovakia, to the country they knew only from their parents´ stories.
• Winner One World, Prague
• Best European film award IFF Astra Film Fest Sibiu
• Great Prize of AFO IFF Academia film Olomouc
• Grand prix “Crossroads of Europe”, Lublin
• Main award IFF Shaken’s Star, Alma Ata
2009 – The Borders / Hranica
• Penetrating documentary about the absurdity of the situation in the village of Slemence, which one day in 1946 suddenly found itself divided between two countries: Czechoslovakia and the Ukraine.
• Slovak National Nomination for Oscar 2011 - Best Foreign Language Film
• The best documentary film of middle and eastern Europe IFDF Jihlava
• Spectrum IFF Rotterdam
• winner IFF Cinematik Piešťany