Zuzana Točíková Vojteková: Last News

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest Contributor Slovak director, screenwriter and cinematographer Juraj Jakubisko, who won more than 80 international film awards, has died at the age of 84 in Prague, according to Film New Europe. Jakubisko, who was given the nickname “the Fellini of the East“ due to his visual originality and magical realism, was born on April 20, 1938 in the eastern Slovak village of Kojšov. He studied photography at a secondary school for applied arts in Bratislava, and graduated in film directing from Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague. He began winning international acclaim with his experimental short films even before his directorial feature debut with “Crucial Years” (Kristove roky) (1967). The films “The Deserter and the Nomads” (Zbehovia a pútnici) (1968), which won the Little Lion award for young artist at the Venice Film Festival, “Birds, Orphans and Fools” (Vtáčkovia, siroty a blázni) (1969), and the tragicomedy “See You in Hell, Friends” (Dovidenia v pekle, priatelia) (1970, completed in 1990) were banned in the 1970s, so for years Jakubisko could only devote himself to documentary work.

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest Contributor The first part of “The Strangers,” a trilogy directed by Renny Harlin and produced by Lionsgate, has started production in Slovakia. Rastislav Kuril’s Frame Film is servicing the production in the country. The producers registered for the 33% cash rebate at the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in June, Film New Europe reports. Filming on the first part of the trilogy started in August on locations in and around Bratislava. The trilogy is a remake of the 2008 film “The Strangers,” which was written and directed by Bryan Bertino, with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman starring. Together with its 2018 sequel “The Strangers: Prey at Night,” it became a cult horror classic.

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest ContributorSlovak director Tomáš Krúpa has started production on his creative documentary “We Have to Survive.” The Slovak/French/Austrian coproduction captures stories about climatic change impacts from four corners of the world, while leaving the smallest carbon footprint possible, Film New Europe reports.“By choosing local stories, we strive for social and ethnic diversity,” Krúpa told FNE. “We want to have representatives of different races and cultures so that the film has a global narrative value.

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest ContributorA few days before the premiere of Peter Budinský’s animated film “Yourland,” Nohavmede has launched the game “Yourland: Bowlers Run” to underscore the environmental themes of the film, in the latest example of movie-games convergence, according to Film New Europe.The development of the game took almost two years, during which the creators worked closely with the film’s producers.“Yourland” was produced by Slovakia’s BFILM in coproduction with Slovakia’s Plutoon, The Pack in Belgium, BFILM.cz in Czech Republic, and Radio and Television Slovakia. It was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the MEDIA Programme, the Bratislava region, the Czech Film Fund and Screen.brussels.

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest ContributorThe Slovak romantic comedy “And a Happy New Year 2,” directed by Jakub Kroner, has grossed Euros 1.11 million ($1.19 million) at the local box office over five weeks of release, which is more than any Hollywood blockbuster earned in the country so far this year. Its stellar run continues the success achieved by home-grown romantic comedies in the past two years, according to online news service Film New Europe.“And a Happy New Year 2” is a sequel to Kroner’s comedy “The New Year’s Kiss,” which was one of the first to kick-start this trend at the end of 2019, when it topped the Slovak box office over its opening weekend, with 56,555 admissions and a Euros 337,680 gross.