Muzika, the new Slovak-German film by actor-director Juraj Nvota, has been selected for the East of the West competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Muzika had its premiere in Slovak cinemas April 17. Just three days later, Muzika swept nine prizes in the Slovak national film awards which are held every two years. Next stop is the Karlovy Vary festival, set for July 4-12.

The film, set during the communist regime of the 1980s, follows the tragicomic destiny of a young and talented musician who gets easily entangled in destructive relationships.

The budget for the film was €1.16 million, of which the Slovak production company ALEF Film & Media Group accounted for 52%, said ALEF President Marián Urban in an email exchange with FNE. "The German partners, box!Film (box!Film Gmbh, www.boxfilm.de) in cooperation with Cine plus (cine plus Media Service GmbH & Co. KG, www.cine-plus.de) and Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (www.mdm-online.de), contributed 48%."

"In fact, the costs ran 10% higher than expected and that was covered by ALEF," Urban told FNE.

The budget includes support from the EU programs Eurimages and Media Plus as well as from the grant scheme AudioVizia 2005 and 2006 backed by the Slovak Ministry of Culture.

Muzika was shot in Slovakia from Sept. 30, 2005 to Feb. 13, 2006. Postproduction was made in Germany between July 2006 and October 2007.

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