The festival, supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund (www.avf.sk) , puts a spotlight on Slovakia's blossoming reputation in documentary filmmaking. Festival organizers point to the thematic and formal diversity among this year's collection. As in the previous year, the winner will be chosen by a jury of young European film critics.
The competition lineup includes three previously awarded films: Erika Hníková's Matchmaking Mayor (Tagesspiel Award at Berlinale), a documentary about Zemplínske Hámre and its mayor who refuses to watch his village dying out; the final part of Matej Mináč trilogy about Nicholas Winter, Nicky's Family (Audience Award at Karlovy Vary;) and a portrait of an architect and "the father of Asian high-rises" Ladislav Hudec, The Man Who Changed Shanghai by Ladislav Kaboš (Igric award for documentary and creative bonus for film directing).
Five additional films round out the competition.
Pavol Barabáš travel film Trou de Fer - The Iron Hole was filmed on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean where a unique canyon with almost untouched nature is situated.
The three-week U.S. tour of Theatre from the Passage is portrayed in Adam Hanuljak's Protected Territory.
The life of celebrated sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt is illustrated in Peter Dimitrov dramatized documentary Time of Grimaces.
The Whole World Is Narrow Bridge by Dušan Hudec presents Jossi Steiner who left for Israel after World War II and his return to Košice and to become the "people's rabbi" there.
The Baby Boom Generation at the Turning Point by Yvonne Vavrová looks at the generation of 40 - 60-year-old people and their place in today's society.
Coproducing Documentaries in Europe, an accompanying seminar about the possibilities of international cooperation on documentary films held 9-10 September, will be organized by the IFF Cinematik, European Documentary Network (EDN) and MEDIA Desk Slovakia. The seminar is targeted to producers from Slovakia and neighboring countries and will include individual consultations for selected projects with international tutors Ove Rishøj Jensen (EDN), Peter Gottschalk (ARTE G.E.I.E.) and Stefan Kloos (Kloos & Co Medien, Germany).
