Febiofest Bratislava goes ahead with an on-site event
- The festival, unspooling from 30 September-4 October, will serve as a launchpad for several domestic productions having their local theatrical premieres
![Febiofest Bratislava goes ahead with an on-site event](imgCache/2020/09/29/1601377492521_0620x0413_0x0x1000x666_1679303606223.jpg)
After Febiofest Bratislava was disrupted and postponed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak (see the news), the pared-down 27th edition is ready to bring the delayed premieres of local and international films to domestic theatre-goers. Given the current circumstances and the growing number of coronavirus cases, the organisers are preparing a safe and secure festival with a reduced programme and accompanying events limited to a clutch of festival venues.
The gathering will open with the domestic premiere of the latest dramedy by Petr Zelenka, Droneman [+see also:
trailer
interview: Petr Zelenka
film profile], made as a Czech-Slovak-Slovenian co-production. Slovakian filmmaker Mira Fornay will introduce her latest endeavour, the absurdist and surreal drama Cook F**k Kill [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mira Fornay
film profile], as a domestic premiere at the festival. The documentary Everest – The Hard Way by Pavol Barabáš is another domestic film that will begin its local theatrical distribution at the event, along with Jaro Vojtek’s doc Paradise on Earth [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Martin Šulík’s portrait of the best-known Slovakian mime artist, Milan Sládek, in the feature-length documentary Milan Sládek. In addition, the work behind the scenes of the supposedly last feature by Czech surrealist maestro Jan Švankmajer was recorded by a duo of Czech and Slovak directors, Jan Daňhel and Adam Oľha, in Athanor – The Alchemical Furnace [+see also:
trailer
interview: Adam Oľha
film profile].
The main competition section, In the Heart of Europe, will welcome a variety of short films, including documentaries, animations and experimental efforts, from the Visegrad region and Austria, while this year’s edition will also welcome offerings from Ukraine. The programmers have picked 20 competition titles from among the 200 submitted works. The competition line-up includes the critically acclaimed Czech-Slovak-French animated short Sh_t Happens by David Štumpf and Michaela Mihályi, the Hungarian film Entropia by Flóra Anna Buda, Bruno Kratochvil’s Grimmelstein and Breaking the Waves by Slovakia’s Andrej Kolenčík. The Czech short animated drama Daughter by Daria Kashcheeva, which scooped 38 gongs on the festival circuit and a Student Academy Award, as well as being nominated for the coveted Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, will be vying for the top prize as well.
The 27th edition of Febiofest Bratislava will also showcase Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir’s portrait of video-art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka, The Vasulka Effect (see the news), and the Czech-French portrait documentary about the titular Czech puppet maker, illustrator and film director, Jiří Trnka: A Long Lost Friend by French filmmaker Joël Farges. Unconventional works will be presented in the Limitless section, which includes Petr Šprincl’s experimental film Moravia O Fair Land III., reflecting the history, identity and culture of Moravia (with added zombies); Ágnes Kocsis’ germophobic, dystopian chamber drama Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; and Valentyn Vasyanovich’s post-war flick Atlantis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valentyn Vasyanovych
film profile].
A travelling showcase of selected films will follow after the main festival programme wraps. The 27th edition of the International Film Festival Febiofest Bratislava takes place from 30 September-4 October (the full line-up can be found here). Watch the Febiofest 2020 spot below:
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