The following Slovak films are showing at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD as part of the European Union Film Showcase Series this December.
NIGHTSIREN [SVETLONOC]
https://silver.afi.com/
After a terrible accident destroyed her childhood, Šarlota (Natalia Germani) returns to her regressive mountain hometown for the first time in 20 years. She finds her mother’s house burned to the ground, so she takes refuge in a supposedly haunted cabin, left abandoned on the edge of town by a witch. As wounds both old and new are reopened, she connects with Mira (Eva Mores), a rebellious young woman who has secrets of her own. It’s not long before the locals start to suspect Šarlota herself is a witch, as strange and unexplainable incidents pile up. Winner of the Golden Leopard, Filmmakers of the Present competition at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival, Tereza Nvotová’s beguiling, folk horror breakthrough is a ferocious takedown of the toxic patriarchy and the way society handles women who dare to break the mold. Winner, Best Fantastic Genre Feature Film, Best Actress (Natalia Germani and Eva Mores) – Special Mention and Best Direction – Special Mention, 2022 Sitges Film Festival. Official Selection, 2022 Fantastic Fest. DIR/SCR Tereza Nvotová; SCR Barbora Namerova; PROD Milos Lochman. Slovak Republic/Czech Republic, 2022, color, 110 min. In Slovak with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Genre: Mystery drama
Opening Date: Friday, December 02, 2022
VICTIM [OBET]
https://silver.afi.com/
In Slovak director Michal Blaško’s powerful first feature — a tense social thriller set in a small Czech border town — Ukrainian immigrant Irina (Vita Smachelyuk) is preparing her application for European citizenship while working as a housekeeper and caring for her 13-year-old son Igor (Gleb Kuchuk), a promising young gymnast. When Igor is the victim of an attack that lands him in hospital, he indirectly identifies the assailants as three local Roma boys. The community is swift to rally around the young man, but as latent anti-Roma sentiment bubbles to the surface and Igor’s case becomes co-opted by right-wing campaigners and others stoking racist and xenophobic flames, Irina starts to notice some inconsistencies in her son’s story. Faced with an impossible moral dilemma and feeling manipulated from all sides, Irina must navigate a highwire act between justice and her impulse to protect her son and the life she’s built. Official Selection, 2022 Venice and Toronto film festivals. DIR Michal Blaško; SCR Jakub Medvecký; PROD Jakub Viktorín, Pavla Kubecková. Slovak Republic/Czechia/Germany, 2022, color, 91 min. In Czech and Ukrainian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 91 Minutes
Genre: Thriller, drama
Opening Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022
View the entire European Union Film Showcase Series
https://afisilver.afi.com/
