Cinematik presents its main competition, which includes the winner of the Palme d’Or from Cannes

August 28, 2022

An integral part of the Cinematik International Film Festival program are two competition sections: Meeting Point Europe and Cinematik.doc. In the first, visitors will see the best of new feature films from all over Europe, the second is a competition of Slovak documentaries.

The main competition of the IFF Cinematik – Meeting Point Europe – brings a set of exceptional European films, from which, in addition to the audience, an expert jury composed of film critics and members of the FIPRESCI federation will choose their favorite. The selection traditionally consists of top film titles, which have already achieved success at world festivals. Cinematik brings several to Slovak viewers in Slovak premieres.

The section will be opened by the British-American drama awarded at this year’s Cannes festival: Aftersun (2022). The prestigious French Touch Prize of the Jury went to director and screenwriter Charlotte Wells, for the story of Sophie reflecting on the shared joy and personal melancholy of a vacation she spent with her father twenty years ago. Real and imagined memories fill the gaps between the miniDV footage as she tries to reunite the father she knew with the man she didn’t.

The Austrian-German film Great Freedom (Große Freiheit, 2021) will also be included in the Meeting point Europe competition. In post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans is repeatedly imprisoned under Section 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Over the decades, he forms an unexpected bond with his fellow inmate Viktor. The drama directed by Sebastian Meise not only received the attention of the European Parliament during the nominations for the LUX Prize, but also the Un Certain Regard jury award at last year’s Cannes festival.

The Polish-Italian title EO (2022) by director and screenwriter Jerzy Skolimowski will offer a very specific film experience. The world is a mysterious place when viewed through the eyes of an animal. IÁ, a gray donkey with melancholic eyes, meets both good and bad people on his life’s journey, experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune, which randomly turns his happiness into disaster and despair into unexpected bliss. However, he does not lose his innocence even for a moment. Jerzy Skolimowski won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and music composer Pawel Mykietyn won Best Soundtrack.

Visitors to Cinematik will also be able to look forward to the Slovak premiere of the French film Another World (Un autre monde, 2021). Director Stéphane Brizé presented his film in the main competition of the Venice festival. Executive manager Philippe Lemesle, his wife and family find themselves caught up in a moment when Philippe’s professional decisions take everyone by surprise. Philippe and his wife are divorcing and their love is irreversibly damaged by work pressure. As a manager working for an industrial conglomerate, he no longer knows how to respond to the conflicting demands of his bosses. Now he must decide what his life really means. This intimate drama stars Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain.

After being screened at the Sundance festival, the outstanding Hungarian drama Gentle (Szelíd, 2022) by the director and screenwriter duo László Csuja and Anna Nemes made it to the Meeting Point Europe competition. Bodybuilder Edina is ready to sacrifice everything for the dream she shares with her partner and trainer Adam: to win the world championship. The strange love she finds along the way to make this dream come true will show her the difference between her dreams and her true self. The film received significant awards at festivals in Brussels, Cleveland and Palić, Serbia.

In the list of competing films, you will also find the Czech film representative Occupation (Okupace, 2021), which was also seen by visitors to the well-known Estonian Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. One night, one bar. The sleepy party of the actors after the performance is disturbed by the visit of an uninvited guest. A drunken Russian officer came to sell a container of army gasoline, but the deal devolves into a vodka-drinking contest, and the Russian, fascinated not only by the beautiful Milada, but mainly by the comical cowardice of all the men present, does not want to leave. The Russian is having a great time. So great that he finally pulls out his gun… The game turns into a trap, heroes into cowards and cowards into heroes. And from the occupied bar there is only one way: revolution! A metaphor for today’s events, directed by Michal Nohejlo, awarded with three Czech Lions.

Under the mysterious name Bergman Island (2021) hides a French-Belgian-German co-production romantic drama by author director Mia Hansen-Løve. A filmmaking couple living in America, Chris and Tony, take refuge on the mythical island of Fårö for the summer. They hope to find inspiration for their upcoming films in this wild, breathtaking landscape where Bergman lived and where he shot his most famous works. As the days spent apart pass, Chris, increasingly fascinated by the island, resurfaces memories of her first love. The boundaries between reality and fiction gradually blur and divide the couple even more. The cast of Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth, together with the well-thought-out character direction, also resonated in the competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival.

The famous Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar also secured an honorable place in the Meeting Point Europe competition. His latest film Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas, 2021), nominated for an international Oscar and premiered at the Venice festival, tells the story of two women, Janis and Ana, who find themselves in a hospital room at the same time, waiting to give birth. Both are single and unexpectedly became pregnant. Janis, who is middle-aged, does not regret being pregnant and is looking forward to it. The second, teenage Ana, is scared, remorseful and traumatized. Janis tries to cheer her up as they move through the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these lessons create a very close connection between them, which develops and complicates in a way that changes their lives in a fundamental way.

The Cinematik Festival will present the Slovak premiere of one of the most ingenious films of this year, Triangle of Sadness (2022). The film was awarded the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes. Swedish director Ruben Östlund again invites you to a sharp, critical analysis of the world. A couple of models, Carl and Yaya, navigate the world of fashion while exploring the limits of their relationship. The two are invited on a luxury cruise with super-rich passengers, a Russian oligarch, British arms dealers and a quirky, Marx-quoting alcoholic captain. At first, everything seems like Instagram. But after a storm, Carl and Yaya find themselves on a deserted island with a group of billionaires and a cleaning lady from the ship. Hierarchy is turned upside down and power no longer means anything.