Film Countries Archives: Slovakia

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A red-headed child and an old man with a beard stare each other down over a chessboard set out on a kitchen table.

Solitude Tilverur

  Ninna Pálmadóttir

  Iceland, Slovakia     75 minutes

Synopsis

Forced off of his cherished farm and lifelong home in the remote reaches of rural Iceland, Gunnar arrives in the bustling heart of the city. Adrift in this unfamiliar urban landscape and lacking the social skills to connect, his days are spent in quiet observation of the city’s people and its myriad spaces. Then he’s confronted by an endlessly inquisitive neighborhood paperboy, Ari, who insinuates himself into Gunnar’s life. Together, these two misfits forge a unique cross-generational bond that confounds everyone around them.

Palmadóttir’s gentle and moving debut is a potent tale about the transformative power of friendship and the profound impact of the connections we forge, regardless of age or stage in life. Protests advocating for a refugee denied asylum form a pivotal backdrop to Gunnar’s journey, offering a stark reminder of the world’s complex and often unjust realities and the need for genuine kindness.

 Icelandic with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Lilja Osk Snorradottir, Hlin Johannesdottir, Elli Cassata, Rúnar Rúnarsson
  •   Rúnar Rúnarsson
  •   Ivor Sonje
  •   Dusan Husar
  •   Throstur Leo Gunnarsson, Hermann Samuelsson, Anna Gunndis Gudmundsdottir, Hjortur Johann Jonsson, Joel Saemundsson
  •   Pegasus Pictures, nutprodukcia, Jour2Fête, Halibut
  •   https://www.thepartysales.com/movie/solitude/

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

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In a classroom, a crowd of onlookers watches a teenage boy read from a piece of paper.

Explanation for Everything Magyarázat mindenre

  Gábor Reisz

  Hungary, Slovakia     152 minutes

Synopsis

Abel, an impetuous high school student on the verge of graduation, is in love. His only problem is that the object of his desires, his best friend Janka, has her eye on their married history professor Jakab. Distracted and unable to focus on his graduation test, Abel exits the exam room with a failing grade. Unwilling to accept the disappointing result, he insinuates to a local reporter that the test was adjudicated by Jakab with an unfair political bias. The result is a national scandal.

Explanation for Everything’s elegant narrative structure pieces together a layered mosaic of personal and political life, as opposing sides of a polarized Budapest hurtle towards a classroom confrontation.

 Hungarian with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Júlia Berkes, Mátyás Prikler
  •   Gábor Reisz, Éva Schulze
  •   Vanda Gorácz, Gábor Reisz
  •   Kristóf Becsey
  •   Gáspár Adonyi-Walsh, István Znamenák, András Rusznák, Rebeka Hatházi, Eliza Sodró, Lilla Kizlinger, Kristztina Urbanovits
  •   András Kálmán, Gábor Reisz
  •   Viktória Petrányi, Kornél Mundruczó, Eszter Gyárfás, Judit Sós
  •   Proton Cinema, MPHILMS

Sponsors

International Competition Program Sponsor

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation