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FESTIVALS / AWARDS Slovakia

Let There Be Light crowned Best Film at the Sun in a Net Awards

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- The tenth edition of the Slovakian national film awards shone a spotlight on the domestic film industry, while Marko Škop's movie walked away with five trophies

Let There Be Light crowned Best Film at the Sun in a Net Awards
The winning Let There Be Light crew members (producer-writer-director Marko Škop joined the ceremony via video link from Zagreb) with Wanda Adamik Hrycová (centre), the president of the Slovak Film and Television Academy (© Peter Frolo)

Marko Škop’s sophomore fiction feature, Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
, has come out on top at the tenth-anniversary edition of the Slovak national film awards, Sun in a Net. The social family drama, which travelled the festival circuit very widely and was picked as Slovakia’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards (see the news), also netted the accolades for Best Director and Best Screenplay, while Zuzana Konečná and Milan Ondrík received the gongs for Best Lead Actress and Actor.

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While Škop’s film took home five awards, it was Jonáš Karásek’s political thriller Amnesty [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
that led the nominations, with a total of 12. The thriller, inspired by the events following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, President Václav Havel’s amnesties and a bloody prison riot, was successful in the technical categories, including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Stage Design.

Tomáš Krupa’s empathetic look at the taboo topic of voluntary euthanasia, The Good Death [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tomáš Krupa
film profile
]
, was named Best Documentary of 2019, while Martin Smatana’s globe-trotting and award-festooned (Stuttgart, Annecy, São Paulo and Taiwan, to name but a few) stop-motion puppet short The Kite, produced by Peter Badač, of BFilm, won in the Best Animated Film category. Three domestic fiction features were singled out to compete for Best Film: going head to head with Škop’s drama were Amnesty and Juraj Šlauka’s directorial debut, the lo-fi dramedy Punk Never Ends! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juraj Šlauka
film profile
]
. The latter left the ceremony with one trophy under its belt, for Best Music, which went to David Kollar. The Czech-Slovak fairy tale The Watchmaker’s Apprentice, directed by Jitka Rudolfová, won for Best Make-up and Best Costume Design.

In addition to the Slovak Film and Television Academy, the public also got to pick their favourite film for the Audience Award. After the bittersweet rom-com Loli Paradicka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marka Staviarska
film profile
]
, directed by father-and-son team Víťo and Richard Staviarsky, won the Audience Award at the Art Film Fest Košice (see the news), climbed to the second position at the local box office (see the news) and became the most-watched content on the second channel of the public broadcaster, the film came full circle last night, netting the Audience Award at the Sun in a Net ceremony.

Here is the full list of winners at the tenth edition of the Sun in a Net Awards:

Best Film
Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
– Marko Škop (Slovakia/Czech Republic)

Best Documentary
The Good Death [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tomáš Krupa
film profile
]
- Tomáš Krupa (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria/France)

Best Animated Film
The Kite – Martin Smatana (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Poland)

Best Director
Marko Škop – Let There Be Light

Best Screenplay
Marko Škop – Let There Be Light

Best Cinematography
Tomáš Juríček – Amnesty [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Slovakia/Czech Republic)

Best Editing
Matej Beneš – Amnesty

Best Sound
Viktor Krivosudský - Amnesty

Best Stage Design
Tomáš Berka, Karol Filo, Václav Vohlídal – Amnesty

Best Costumes
Marek Cpin – The Watchmaker’s Apprentice

Best Make-up
Helena Steidlová – The Watchmaker's Apprentice

Best Lead Actress
Zuzana Konečná – Let There Be Light

Best Supporting Actress
Anna Geislerová - Amnesty

Best Lead Actor
Milan Ondrík – Let There Be Light

Best Supporting Actor
Gregor Hološka - Amnesty

Award for Exceptional Contribution to Slovakian Cinema
Milan Lasica

Audience Award
Loli Paradicka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marka Staviarska
film profile
]
– Richard Staviarky, Víťo Staviarsky (Slovakia)

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