The Slovak/Ukrainian coproduction, which was showcased at the12th CentEast Works In Progress, has been a huge commercial and critical success. It went on to become a box office hit in Slovakia, represented Slovakia as its Oscar bid for 2017, won prizes at the Chicago IFF and Karlovy Vary IFF, was the most awarded film at Slovakia’s Sun in a Net national film awards and most recently won the best film prize at Finale Plzen in April.
The story follows Adam Krajňák, the father of a family and the head of organised crime at the Slovak-Ukrainian border. His oldest daughter is about to marry a local thief, his Ukrainian partner begins to rebel and a new product – narcotics – appears on the border. Alexander Bárta, Emília Vášáryová, Eugen Libezňuk play the main characters.
"We are exploring not only the physical borders but also the moral ones, and the transformation of people who cross them. Our tagline is: There are borders you cross only once", producer Wanda Adamík Hrycová told FNE.
The line was produced by Wandal Production in coproduction with the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS and the Ukrainian company Garnet International Media Group, with a reported budget of 1.31 m EUR. "We received development support from Creative Europe MEDIA and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, and also a production subsidy from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Ukrainian State Film Agency", said Hrycová.
Production Information:
Produced by Wandal Production
Coproduced by Garnet International Media Group, RTVS, HomeMedia Production and Martin Kohút
Supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the MEDIA Programme, the Ukrainian State Film Agency, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava Self-Governing Region
Credits:
Director: Peter Bebjak
Scriptwriter: Peter Balko
DoP: Martin Žiaran
Cast: Alexander Bárta, Emília Vášáryová, Eugen Libezňuk, Andy Hryc, Zuzana Fialová