Number thirtheen won’t be unlucky for the Cinematik film festival. Pieštany offers remarkable and quality films to Slovak audience again.

Press release June 26, 2018

The upcoming 13th season of the International Cinematik film festival which takes place in Pieštany doesn’t even this year forget about its annual Eye on Films section. Platform of the same name established by Wide Management company has set its goal to regularly present the first and the second film of directors form all around the world. Up to the present, the company has more than 152 partner organizations from more than 40 countries, among which also Cinematik finds its place.

In this section, Cinematik will be screening a realistic portrait of young people – Danmark – shot by director called Kasper Runea Larsen. Young 23-years old Norge is a typical slacker – beer in one hand, joint in the other, and mouth full of boastful plans. Norge’s only friend is Myre. Both dream about moving into a bigger city like Aarhus or Berlin. Their plans, however, fall apart as young Jospehine claims that Norge is the father of her yet unborn child.

Another moving story about young adults is a Dutch-Belgian film We set into one hot summer. Eight teenagers try to entertain themselves by playing various games. The line between what’s good and bad starts to be, however, blurry. Sexual curiosity changes innocent children into heartless predators.

Nina from a Polish film is married to Wojtek and can’t get pregnant. The young couple seeks out a mother, who is willing to give birth to their child. Mysterious and beautiful Magda, however, wakes up unexpected feelings in Nina. Will this love triangle with queer elements bring happiness to all of them?

Following the topic of parenthood, you can watch a Swiss film Goliath. When Jessy tells David she’s pregnant, David freaks out. A couple days later David can’t truly protect his girlfriend from hooligans and decides to go to the gym. He believes that muscles will make him more confident and secure. The stronger David is, the more his personality changes. Slowly, the danger for Jenny and her child becomes David himself.

A part of Eyes on Films section is also a French comedy Tazzeka The main protagonist is a young boy Elijah who discovers the secrets of Moroccan cuisine unveiled by his grandma, who also brought him up. As he meets a French Chef, Elijah decides to leave for Paris. There, as an illegal immigrant Elijah has to face financial problems as well as unstable job career.

Another beloved section of IFF Cinematik is the so-called Special Screenings section. This section will introduce a couple of Slovak phenomenal quality films for the first time. Spanish drama The Invisible Hand shot by director David Macián will be screened in this section, for example. The plot takes place in an industrial warehouse where 11 workers execute various duties. A bricklayer builds a wall which he later destroys, a girl places pieces of an assembly line without knowing its purpose, a retailer relocates boxes from one place to another, an operator does some surveys … Tens of people remotely watch this ”working show”.

The Special Screenings section will introduce a Romanian film Lemonade inspired by a true story. Maria, a young Romanian woman has just moved with her 9-years old son to USA and is ready to live her American dream. She’s married to Daniel, an American, whom she met just recently. A couple of events happens in one day. There are problems with finding a nanny for her son, an unexpected encounter with an immigrant official, the struggle to take out a loan… Abuse of power is a real thing in this film. The main protagonist Maria is portrayed by Malina Manovici whom Slovak audience might remeber from Baccalauréat.

Let’s not forget about a Spanish-Cuban co-production called Sergio and Sergei. This Drama had its opening night the last year on a film festival in Toronto. The award for the best screenplay of a film festival in Havana was given to Ernesto Daranas, film’s director and scriptwriter. The plot is based on an extraordinary story of a cosmonaut named Sergej Krikaliov who gets stuck on a space station Mir in 1991 for 10 months and only thank to a passionate radio amateur from Cuba Sergej is able to stay in touch with the Earth. As Sergio, a teacher of Marxism, begins to communicate with Sergej he finds out they have a lot in common. Geopolitical isolation is neglected and a unique friendship starts dwelling.

Cinematik will also introducing the latest adaptation of Russian classics – Seagull – witten by A. P Čechov. This tragicomedy directed by Michael Mayer has hosted a couple of well-known actors and actresses, as for example Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan, Elizabeth Moss, Corey Stoll. One summer they all meet by the sea and we’ll be again the witnesses of their complex relationships.

Another film to mention is Puzzle. This shot is a great portrait learned by watching a 40-years old mother and wife in one person. Agnes cooks, cleans up, goes shopping and even bakes her own birthday cake. The moment Agnes gets a 1000 piece puzzle for her birthday everything changes. All of a sudden she doesn’t do only the necessary but finds happiness in activities she enjoys and is good at.

The desired midnight section under the name of Behind the Borders of a Cult: Severe Love will belong to seven films devoted to love and its pernicious impact. Hounds of Love, an Australian shot set in the 80’s will also be one of them. The main protagonist is a 17-year old Vicky Maloney who gets abducted. If she wants to survive she needs to ruin the relationship of John and Evelyn White, two serial killers who are as well her kidnappers.

Another special film from the midnight section is an Estonian co-production titled November which story is set in a pagan countryside of Estonia, where only werewolves, plague and ghosts are alive. This shot is an imaginative fairy-tale enriched by the story of unrequited love of young Liine. The film is based on the novel by Andrud Kivirähk. The vivid adaptation is set off by the dominant black-and-white camera.

A completely different perspective of love is to be seen in an exclusive crime-drama shot by the famous Sam Peckinpah which carries the name Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. A bartender and pianist Bennie sets off on a bloody journey in the 70’s. At the end of the journey a million-dollar award waits for the keeper of the head of gigolo Alfred Garcia.

Even before 1955 began, a criminal drama of a French director H.G. Clouzot has seen the the light of the world for the first time. A wife and a lover hold the same side against the same man and plan to kill him. However, not everything stays in their hands for the whole time.

13^th MFF Cinematik takes place in Pieštany from September 11th till September 16th, 2018.

You can buy your accreditation for Cinematik festival on www.cinematik.sk.