Ivan Ostrochovský

Droneman is about Chemist and Fly Navigator Pavel and his friend Bussinessman and free time Rapper Plech. Pavel has strong sense of justice and wishes to fix wrongs with the World while Plech dreams about Big money and secure life. Their common passion are Drones since School. Pavel returns from Foreign and meets again with Plech and together they use Drones to start Bussiness. They monitor Power Stations, wear luxury handbags at the show or spray the Petrin Tower from the air. Their clients even include Presidential candidate. Everything changes when one of them decides to misuse Drones.

Part documentary, part mockumentary and part stranger-than-fiction lesson in guerilla tactics, Velvet Terrorists is a quirky profile of three very different men and their former attempts to take down the communist regime of Czechoslovakia – by blowing the hell out of it. Having all spent time in prison for their crimes, one-time bombers Stanislav, Frantisek and Vladimir muse on their personal histories, the fall of the regime and their journey into middle age.

A country awakens from a deep winter sleep. An incomprehensible and absurd world slowly unfolds before the camera, imbued with strangeness, even though we are familiar with its sounds, rhythms and colours.

It’s the early 1990s and 13-year-old Valerie, a gifted novice singer, is given the chance to become a member of a world-famous girls’ choir, taking her place alongside her older sister and her other rivals in the ensemble. Everything points to the fact that Valerie’s exceptional talent has caught the attention of the formidable and much admired choirmaster. This highly anticipated psychological drama calls to mind not only the notorious case of Bambini di Praga, but also other devastating situations involving the clash of innocence and abusive authority.

A documentary about the present and the past of Čierna nad Tisou, a border town in the south-east of Slovakia, once the "Golden Gate of Socialism".

Thirteen years after Milan Daniel suffered a serious head injury in a racially motivated attack, his assailant is set to be released. What feelings does this moment awaken in a traumatized man who, though he survived, will forever suffer the consequences of that fateful day? Straddling the line between fiction and documentary, the feature debut by Slovak directors Šimon and Anna Domček is an exceptionally cohesive mosaic of fragmentary pieces of everyday life, memories, dreams, and subjective perceptions. Besides exploring the experience of someone seeking to escape the shadows of the past – shadows that weigh heavily on future generations as well – the film also takes an unusual approach to the subject of racial intolerance.

A film essay, a personal story, a tribute to the mothers and families of premature babies, at-risk newborns and the vulnerable disadvantaged.

Mischievously self-assured Mára and somewhat eccentric Heduš set out into the frozen wastes in search of adventure – by car, naturally. After all, Mára’s turning fifteen soon. A road movie about the flies that occasionally buzz around even in winter, and a story that tells of the elusive bond of boyhood friendship and the irrepressible desire to experience something, even if you don't exactly know what.

Incomplete thoughts and fragments of dialogue, diverse music interrupted by rushes and glitches, and the seemingly confused, unanchored camera, create a disturbing, philosophical reflection on the limits of anthropocentric thinking.

After a painful divorce, 50-year-old Nadia finally finds a good flat for reasonable price for her and her daughter. Too good to be true, and soon, albeit too late, she comes to understand the reason for the bargain. Her close neighbour in the house is mentally ill Valika who terrorises everyone around her. Piussi’s film creates a string of absurd encounters with increasingly menacing effects, but it is – at its core – a fantastically precise film about humanism, its consequences, its possible limits.

Josef is a writer aged sixty, who thinks that nothing can surprise him any more. One evening, though, his phone rings and he finds himself caught up in a series of events that turn his world upside-down. His best friend – also a writer – tries to commit suicide; his young girlfriend Katka tells him she’s pregnant; and the man with hare ears – his alter ego from one of his stories – appears to him in everyday situations.

Martin Kollár’s acclaimed cinematography reigns resplendent in the silent story of a man waiting for important surgery. Discovering he's facing the possibility of only having a few months left to live, Ján Kollár embarks on a journey with no destination and only a deadline.

Michal and Juraj, two students of a theological seminary in totalitarian Czechoslovakia, must decide if they'll choose the easier way of collaboration, or if they'll subject themselves to the surveillance of the secret police.

The story begins at the moment when the parents of twelve-year-old Nikca and six-year-old Tomas leave for the weekend, and the children have their apartment to themselves for the very first time. And without supervision! Nikca decides to put her little brother away in his room and invite her friend Gabča over, planning to order pizza, watch a horror movie on video, and just have fun. But watching a forbidden scary film is not meant for them.

Lesya has committed a crime of passion which brings her a seven-year sentence in one of Odesa’s women’s correctional facilities. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates, nurses and wardens, women of all ages, wives and widows, daughters, sisters, pregnant women, and women with children too. If not for the color of the uniform, it would sometimes be hard to tell who is who.

This year’s gallery of artistically inspiring portraits of uncompromising eccentrics (among them The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld, Robert Richardson: The White Devil and A Pint of Ink) features another unobtrusive stand-out in the shape of Igor Luther, a key figure of Slovak and European cinematography. Ivan Ostrochovský’s perspective is rare, dynamic and also meditative, while Luther himself co-authored the project during the last few months of his life. Works such as Juraj Jakubisko’s Birds, Orphans and Fools, Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum and Andrzej Wajda’s Danton, in the persuasive words of their creators, wouldn't have the same timeless energy today if it weren't for Luther's visionary endeavours.

Two embittered paparazzi face the consequences of their intrusive profession when confronted by an immoral scheme and an otherworldly presence.

Ingrid works as a gynecologist in a district hospital in Slovakia in the late 1980s. Her marriage is at a standstill, she has an affair with a younger colleague in the hospital, and after work, she sits on the abortion committee where they offer Roma women sterilization after the abortion is approved. Eighteen-year-old Agáta, who grew up in a children’s home, comes to work as a nurse at the hospital. Ingrid unexpectedly becomes close to her.

On a cold February morning, 12-year-old Niki and his family arrive at the Kharkiv metro station to take shelter from the terrifying war raging outside. For Niki's family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the boy is not allowed to leave the station premises, living under the constant glow of their neon lights. While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets Vika (11), and a new world opens up to him. As their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.

A grittily realistic tale of prostitution at an Eastern European border town

Sonia Maletzová's documentary film portrait follows the legend of the Czechoslovak music scene, rock keyboardist Marian Varga (1947-2017), at the end of his life, when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. It captures the great introvert and avid smoker during his last performances, when he slowly began to lose his breath.

The film captures a period in the life of figure skater Ondrej Nepela, when in 1972 he returns with a gold medal from the Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, marking the peak of his sporting career. At home, he is greeted not only with fame but also with the realities of the communist regime. Everyone treats him like a celebrity, but the sensitive Ondrej longs above all for an escape from this uncomfortable golden cage. He wants to live freely and in harmony with who he feels he truly is. Yet at the last moment, his promised chance to leave for a professional ice revue is forbidden, and he is ordered to compete in another World Championship. Disappointed, Nepela must find new motivation and also come to terms with the tragic death of his best friend, figure skater Hana Mašková.

For 25 years, Richard Müller has been a key figure in the Czech and Slovak music industry. Despite quitting music once, he returned to the stage while battling untreated manic depression and drug use. The documentary offers an intimate look at his artistic journey and personal struggles, amidst constant fan and tabloid attention. Filmed over three years with over 200 hours of footage, it includes home videos shot by Müller. It follows the tradition of Czech artistic documentaries like Amy and Nick Cave: 20,000 Days on Earth, exploring themes of inspiration and loneliness.