Awards for Slovak Documentary Films

The film Other Worlds (dir. Marko Skop) was awarded the “Talent Dove of the Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig” at the 49. International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (30. October – 5. November 2006). The jury selected the film of the young Slovak film-maker (born 1974) from among 9 other cancicates because of "its precise cinematic analysis on both ethnographic and sociological leves and for its creative approach". The prize - worth 10,000 Euro - is intended for a start-up financing for the next film project and was first awarded at the festival in 2004.

In addition, Slovak animated films were represented in Leipzig by Martin Snopek´s Pik and Nik in the non-competitive section “Animation for Kids”.

The Film Here We Are (dir. Jaro Vojtek) represented Slovakia at 8. International festival of documentary film and visual antropology Astra Film (23. – 29. October 2006) and received the Award of the Delegation of the European Commission for the Best European Film with the following motivation: This film follows a family of Slovak origin deported to the Kazakh steppes after World War II as they try to resettle in their grandmother’s land. These are not migrants in search of a spectacular dream, merely a family trying to go home. Then result is a universal story of the loss of roots, and the longing for a place in which to belong. Through the main character’s travels we discover the romancing work of memory. This is an extremely beautiful film which never tries to be pretty. There is neither a single arty shot nor any attempt to use the technologies of film to pump up the viewers’ emotions. There is only effortless intimacy between Dimitri and camera.