Juraj Nvota

The film Mečiar is the confession of the young director Tereza Nvotová about Vladimír Mečiar and the influence that this politician had on Slovak society, but also on the life of Tereza herself. When the totalitarian communist regime fell in Czechoslovakia in 1989, Tereza was one year old. The leaders of the Gentle Revolution then decided to hold an audition for the Minister of the Interior, to which Vladimír Mečiar, an unknown business lawyer from the Slovak countryside at the time, applied. After success in bankruptcy, Vladimír Mečiar reaches the political top, from where he rules the country with a series of questionable practices. Against the background of events such as the division of Czechoslovakia or the kidnapping of the son of the president of the Slovak Republic, Tereza and her peers relive their childhood.

Jakub, a dreamer and budding magician, juggles between parcels and services rendered to the villagers. His eyes cross that of the beautiful gypsy Jolanka. Together, they will try to live a first and big love, despite the pressure of their respective communities.

Olga is a complex young woman desperate to break free from her unfeeling family and social conventions. With her Louise Brooks-like tomboyish looks she drags herself, chain-smoking, from one job to another until she appears to find her niche as a truck driver. Although she has female lovers she does not form a bond with any of them; instead she clashes, time and again, venting herself in wordless emotional outbursts and other behavioural extremes.

A wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but things can go awry. When an uninvited guest turns up at the church and later at the reception as well, the newly-weds’ day turns sour. Shadows of the past can blight the most sumptuous of banquets and rend the most affectionate of embraces.

No synopsis available yet.

A dramaturg is present during the writing of the screenplay, but does not write the film. A dramaturg is present on set, but does not direct the film. A dramaturg sits in on the editing process, but does not edit the film. A dramaturg is also involved in many other activities throughout a film’s production, yet performs none of them directly. In this sense, the dramaturg is invisible. The same could be said of the life of the distinguished Czechoslovak dramaturg Jan Gogola, who influenced countless stories throughout his career—including this documentary itself. His portrait is, in fact, being dramaturgically shaped in real time as the film unfolds.

Taken from the Radošino Naive Theatre. Ján Melkovič played here the character of the composer Ján Petrović-self. Stanislav Štepka wrote this exceptional play for him as a gift for his 50th birthday.

Once a hugely popular clown trio, Oskar, Max, and Viktor are now living very different lives. The intense fight that ended their friendship has left them on bad terms for over 40 years. Max is battling colon cancer, Viktor's wife is losing a battle to Alzheimer's, and Oskar, who's never been the best dad, is trying to rescue his daughter from an abusive relationship. The good old days are gone indeed. Despite their situations, each one still tries to maintain a sense of humor. They look fondly on the days when they were slapstick superstars. However, when it comes to the issues that led to their career demise, they just can't seem to let their anger go. As they hesitantly agree to a reunion, they begin to find that the only way back to the top is through forgiveness.

Bittersweet comedy about four teenage boys, their friends, parents, lovers - from the moment when they are 15 to moment when they are 18. Story is set in 1970s, when is Czechoslovakia occupied by Russians.

The drama called I Love, You Love was made in 1980 but because of the absurd ideological ban, the film entered cinemas nine years later. Pišta is an unmarried man who works at a freight wagon which carries letters and parcels. Alcohol helps him to overcome his handicap of being short and not good-looking. He wishes he had a woman, but the woman he really wants, ageing Viera who reloads the cargoes, has a soft spot for another man. So, Pišta has nobody and nothing, except for senile mother who sometimes fails to recognize him. The film received Silver Bear for Best Director at the International Film Festival in Berlin.

This film is a psychological study of a woman who chooses solitude as an escape from the duplicity and emotional barrenness of the men around her.

A film about the uncertainties faced by a man in post-Communist Slovakia, his relationship with a teenage son and English teacher girlfriend who's soon to return home to England.

A story of a man threatened by a fatal illness evaluating his life (the number 322 in the film title stands for the diagnosis of one kind of cancer). He understands his illness as a form of punishment for his cruel deeds in the 1950s. In the face of reality and his efforts to cleanse himself he hits a barrier of indifference, lack of interest, and individual and collective selfishness. He has to find his own reconciliation with his illness and his past and present life.

An image and music collage - a cinema concert - guided by a young sound engineer David, for whom the exhibition on E. F. Burian is an incentive to take more interest in this avant-garde artist. The film interweaves two strands - documentary and factual, drawing on contemporary material and archival images - and fictional with the story of David the sound engineer.

No synopsis available yet.

Poetic movie about 3 generations of women.

Beata Parkanová, the filmmaker behind Moments, returns to Karlovy Vary with an exceptionally vivid portrait of the family of notary Václav Vojíř, a small-town moral authority, and his selfless wife Věra. This masterfully told and highly original intimate drama, whose protagonists undergo a difficult ordeal in the summer of 1968, is reinforced by finely wrought, exquisite performances from Martin Finger and Gabriela Mikulková.

The story of a group of young people on a ski camp. The crystallization of their relationships is accelerated by an avalanche.

No synopsis available yet.

A selection of the best scenes and songs from the theatre's rich history, using STV archive material. Stanislav Štepka, an inseparable part of the naive scene and its "father", will accompany us through the 45-year history of the theatre and its characters from the village of Radošina.

This simple story is the feature debut for well-known Slovak theater and television director Juraj Nvota. Set in a Slovak village at the turn of the last century, the story teems with passion, and repressed and hidden emotion. It delves into the search for identity, investigating both love and hatred, while dramatizing the tragic relationship between an adolescent girl (Tatiana Pauhofová) and her ambitious father (Ondrej Vetchý). Set against the striking though simple backdrop of a picturesque, even idyllic, landscape - one ostensibly cut off from any important historical, political, or social context whatsoever - the arrival of an unwanted individual evokes the onset of a cruel drama.

In 1980s CSSR, depressed Martin tries to overcome the feeling of being locked up with jazz music.

A new man comes into the world and his fate is watched over by three female judges. One of them endows him with exceptional qualities, the second puts many obstacles in his way and the third advises him how he can find his happiness in life in spite of everything. But what happens if one of the women judges fails in her task? In a fairy tale story full of suspense, humour and surprises, the kind and wise girl Johanka finds out for herself... There will be a stubborn prince, an unjust and greedy uncle, or a forgetful fairy Tea, but most of all a lot of love, which, as it happens in fairy tales, will help Johanna to overcome almost all the obstacles of fate.

Taken from the Radošino Naive Theatre. Ján Melkovič played here the character of the composer Ján Petrović-self. Stanislav Štepka wrote this exceptional play for him as a gift for his 50th birthday.

A recording of a theatre performance by the Radošino Naive Theatre.

The life and times of the vagabond, prisoner, swordsman, photographer, painter, wanderer, action maker, performer, seeker of joy and freedom Alex Mlynárčík in moving images, paintings, photographs, life-plays and controversies of the times in which he lived and lives. The story of a century in which the modern identity, culture, and basic values of Slovakia were formed - as part of Czechoslovakia, but also as an independent state, and especially as part of the European community, to which our protagonist inseparably belongs with his work and life. Alex Mlynárčik, through his work, friends, opinions and speeches, has become an organic part of this story - and especially its co-creator.

New husband Adam reluctantly takes a job with state security in a totalitarian country, thus becoming a secret police agent. This "contract with the devil" helps secure a flat for the happy couple, as well as a prosperous future. However, he soon finds out that he too is under surveillance.

From Adam to the Three Kings is the subtitle of the dance comedy Slovak Christmas with SĽUK. A traditional opus as a comedy about the creation of the world and what came after.

Tragicomic family film about the world of children heroes - particularly the son of a local communist officer and his friend, a little hostage of the regime, whose parents emigrated to the West, few years before "Prague Spring" and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Camaraderie, the first big discoveries of love, enemy gang fights and naive ideas are confronted with the reality of adult's world. The film is about the first contacts with bizarre and absurd reality of relationships and attitudes of adults, politics, emigration, but also betrayal and death and about how all those things form and transform the lives of small boys, who are forced to grow up too quickly.

No synopsis available yet.

A marriage marked by the woman's mental illness, which not only determines the marital relations, but also makes the common life for both partners somehow emotionally deeper and stronger, although it eventually comes to an unexpected conclusion.

Agáta, a sensitive and impractical childless widow, is placed in a retirement home not out of neglect or poverty but because her middle-aged relatives, overwhelmed by their own responsibilities, believe she will fare better among peers. Unprepared for life among strangers with quirky habits and opinions, she strives to adapt yet finds herself traumatized by the selfishness of a difficult roommate.

Television adaptation of the classic novel by American author N. West.

No synopsis available yet.

TV film about the visions of the Slovak inventor of the parachute Štefan Banič.

Television film with Radošino Naive Theatre and its guests.

The paths of three women meet in a hospital room. They all perceive life as a gift, not as a meaningless punishment. By believing in life, they overcome all obstacles and seek their own dignity. Their life stories are connected by kind humor and a strong humanist accent.

No synopsis available yet.

A sensitive insight into the relationship of two young people whose marriage is going through a hidden, yet dramatic crisis. Different measures of values, minor-major misunderstandings, the disappointment of a childless marriage, feelings of loneliness and guilt all cause a painful corrosion of emotional relationships. Husband and wife Bušo and Milka find their way back to each other only with difficulty, finally coming to the realisation that only a sensitive perception of each other's problems and world, mutual consideration, honesty and trust are the inspiration for life and the possibility of overcoming both professional and personal problems.

Adaptation of a short story by the American author O'Henry about two kidnappers who are very happy to return a boy and pay for him.