02/10/2008

Juraj Lehotsky's documentary Blind Loves [+see also:
trailer
film profile], about four blind people and their experience with love, is Slovakia's submission in the contest for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Blind Loves, Lehotsky's first feature-length film, is produced by Artileria. The film saw its international premiere in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, where it received the CICAE Art Cinema Award.

It has also screened at Karlovy Vary, London BFI, Reykjavik and Sarajevo. Autlook is handling international sales.

The Slovak academy chose Blind Loves over Juraj Jakubisko's Bathory [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The historical thriller has had 450,000 admissions in Slovakia and over a million in the Czech Republic, making it the year's biggest box office hit in both countries.

Jakubisko and his wife and producer, Deana Jakubiskova-Horvathova, expressed anger over the academy's decision. The filmmakers reject the academy's assertion that Bathory lacked sufficient Slovak participation.

Bathory — a majority Slovak co-production with Hungary, the Czech Republic and the UK — stars UK actors Anna Friel and Hans Matheson as well as Jakubiskova-Horvathova and Czech actor Karel Roden. The film was released in English, Czech and Slovak versions.

The Slovak academy maintains that while the director and screenwriter are Slovak the film lacks sufficient Slovak participation in the principal roles and as heads of department.