Actress Jana Kovalčiková will be the recipient of the Cinematik Talent Award for her acting performance in the new Slovak film Love, directed by Marko Škop, which will have at the festival its exclusive Slovak premiere.
Jana Kovalčíková is one of the prominent faces of contemporary Slovak acting. Audiences know her from films, series and theatre productions, and in Škop's new work she has been given the opportunity to portray one of her most demanding roles to date. As young neurologist Anna, she attempts to find the love and acceptance that her own parents failed to give her in childhood. She therefore carries her unfulfilled emotional life over into her relationships with the people around her.
„The character of Anna is definitely the hardest role I've had the opportunity to play. Anna is a person who needs to find her wholeness, her place on earth. Deep down she longs to be a good person, she longs to know what that's like. She is a character longing for love,“ it is Jana Kovalčiková speaking.
According to the director, Marek Škopa, Anna's inner complexity was one of the reasons why Kovalčiková caught his attention during the auditions. „We held a wide casting process for the character of Anna and Janka delivered a brilliant performance here. At the same time, I was struck by how, as an acting type, she can bring a peculiar tension to the role.“ Škop explains.
The film Láska deals with the question of what a lack of love in a person's life can cause and how significantly our family relationships can influence later life. Anna gradually confronts her own manipulative behaviour. A crucial moment for her comes with the meeting of a terminally ill patient and his loving wife, who show her a different form of love than the one she had known until then.
„No man is an island. Much in our lives is influenced by family constellations, which has an impact on our subsequent relationships and the people around us.“ Marko Škop talks about the film.
Cinematik Talent Award is an award by which the festival draws attention to prominent acting personalities and talents of contemporary Slovak and Czech cinematography. Last year, the award was won by Dominika Morávková-Zeleníková and Milan Ondrík.
Respect to one of the greats of Danish cinema
The second festival award will go to Denmark. Nils Malmros is to receive the Respect Award, one of Denmark's most acclaimed directors, who will also be the main foreign guest at the 21st Cinematik festival.
Malmros's work has long focused on the passage of time, childhood, growing up, family relationships and personal trauma. His films are characterised by a sensitive observation of everyday life and the small decisions that shape human destinies. A significant inspiration for the director was the French New Wave, above all the work of François Truffaut.
His film Tree of Knowledge (1981) It is one of the essential works of Danish cinema, and with it, Malmros created an exceptionally sensitive portrait of growing up. Among his admirers are also prominent contemporary Danish filmmakers. Director Christian Tafdrup described Tree of Knowledge and the film Beauty and the Beast as masterly dramas and highlighted Malmros's ability to capture the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Cinematik will present retrospective of Malmros's work, which was curated by Christopher Small. The director will also personally attend the festival and lead a masterclass. His visit will be one of the highlights of the section Respect, which at Cinematick is traditionally dedicated to major figures in world cinema.