The 20th anniversary of Cinematik will open with Father (Otec) – Tereza Nvotová’s third feature film with a chilling theme inspired by real events

The celebration of the twentieth birthday of the Cinematik International Film Festival in Piešt’any will begin in grand style. It will open with the third feature film of director Tereza Nvotová – Father. With this festival premiere, the organisers promise the audience a truly exceptional and emotionally powerful experience. Milan Ondrík, Dominika Morávková and Aňa Geislerová star in the feature drama, shot in a Slovak-Czech-Polish co-production.

The drama Father (Otec, 2025) is inspired by real events in Slovakia and abroad and offers the story of a father who makes a tragic mistake. He then suffers the consequences not only in his relationship with his wife, his friends and work relationships, in court proceedings, but especially and perhaps primarily in his relationship with himself. The main roles are played by Milan Ondrík and Dominika Morávková, who will thus bring a surprising story of love and marital partnership tested by perhaps the harshest test.

“When I saw the film for the first time at a test screening earlier this year, I was emotionally extremely affected. Tereza Nvotová opted for quite difficult film processing techniques and achieved the feeling that you will experience the story together with the main character. All of her feature films generate foreign interest in our cinema, and this is a real presentation of Slovak culture. I work with emotions within the programme team all year round, but there are only a few films that can be this evocative and truthful at the same time,” says Peter Konečný, a member of the festival’s programme team, about the title, which will be screened with a rich participation of filmmakers, actors and actresses during the opening ceremony of Cinematik on 10 September.

The allusiveness of the film with its tragic plot is enhanced by the emphasis on long, intense shots, for which Tereza Nvotová (Nightsiren, Filthy) brought in experienced Polish cinematographer Adam Suzin (Nepela). With this help, the plot draws the viewer right under the skin of the central character, forcing us to look at a seemingly straightforward situation with an open mind.

According to Peter Konečný, this fundamental film fully deserves the role of the opening title of the 20th Cinematik: “I consider Father to be one of the most important films of our cinema in the last twenty years. It is one of the most impressive titles in the history of Cinematik. We regularly devote a large part of our programme to quality Slovak films and we believe that Cinematik will continue to do so.”

The Cinematik International Film Festival will take place this year from 10 to 15 September and its six-day programme will bring dozens of other powerful and unique film experiences in addition to Tereza Nvotová’s Father. Visitors will be the first to see several of them as premieres, while other films will come to Piešt’any already acclaimed and awarded with prizes from prestigious international festivals in Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Berlin or Karlovy Vary. For those interested in attending this celebration of free cinema and culture in person, discounted accreditation passes are now on sale.