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Two Slovak films to premiere in Venice 2023

The 80th edition of the Venice International Film Festival (30 August – 9 September 2023) will present the world premiere of Gábor Reisz’s Explanation for Everything in the Orizzonti competition. In addition, the Slovak film Photophobia, directed by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík, will premiere in the independent sidebar Giornate degli Autori.

Slovak minority co-production film Explanation for Everything depicts high school student Abel, who is struggling to focus on his final exams, whilst coming to the realisation that he is hopelessly in love with his best friend Janka. The studious Janka has her own unrequited love with married history teacher Jakab who had a previous confrontation with Abel’s conservative father. The tensions of a polarized society come unexpectedly to the surface when Abel’s history graduation exam turns into a national scandal.

Giornate degli Autori’s Special Events will present hybrid film Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík. On a cold February morning, 12-year-old Niki and his family arrive at the Kharkiv metro station to take shelter from the terrifying war raging outside. For Niki’s family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the boy is not allowed to leave the station premises, living under the constant glow of their neon lights. While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets Vika (11), and a new world opens up to him. As their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.

“When we arrived in Ukraine with humanitarian aid in the spring of 2022, and settled into a life alongside the metro refugees, we realized that the eyes of the world would be on the front line. That was why we decided to find something most closely approaching “ordinary life” and preserve it to the best of our abilities: to find a moment of genuine humanity at a time of devastating horror. We decided to juxtapose the timeless, aimless life lived by Niki and his family with the chilling scenes playing out on ground level, using the format of Super 8mm film footage. We've filmed observations of a war-ravaged country that might seem as the distant ideas of a traumatized child – a fever dream from times long past – if only the audience did not know that this was the reality of Ukraine nowadays,” says the directors’ statement.

Slovak films screenings:

Explanation for Everything, dir. Gábor Reisz, HU-SK, 2023
31 August 19:00 Sala Casinò *accredited
31 August 21:30 Sala Pasinetti *accredited
1 September 14:00 Sala Darsena *public/accredited
2 September 14:00 PalaBiennale *public/accredited

Photophobia, dir. Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík, SK-CZ-UA, 2023
31 August 19:30 Sala Corinto *press/industry
1 September 11:45 Sala Perla - Palazzo del Casino *public/accredited
2 September 16:30 Cinema Rossini *public/accredited
2 September 16:30 IMG Candiani Cinemas *public/accredited

Web:
https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2023
https://www.giornatedegliautori.com/en/home-english/

published: 22.08.2023
updated: 22.08.2023