On New Year's Eve 1992/1993 (the year of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia), the Varchal family meets in front of the church to baptise little Zuzka. Her father Peter, however, misses the baptism because he has just gotten his hands on his own father's STB (the Slovak secret service) file. In the meantime, a Canadian student, Charlie, wakes up with Peter's brother, Michal, in a Bratislava dormitory. Neither of them remembers much of the previous night, but Michal invites her to Banská Bystrica to celebrate the New Year. When Peter finally arrives home, he secretly confronts Daniel with his discovery. However, he can't handle it and has a heart attack. The family must deal with the shocking events alone.
The cast includes renowned, popular actors of Slovak and Czech cinema alongside young and successful actors: Anna Šišková, Eva Holubová, Bolek Polívka, Ady Hajdu, Daniel Fisher, Rachel Kramer, Anna Šišková, Éva Bandor and Dávid Hartl, among others.
The production started in February and early March 2023 in the hospital in Trnava. The exteriors and the interiors of the church were filmed in Banská Bystrica and the interiors of Varchal´s family villa in Bratislava´s Palisades.
„We are currently in postproduction (VFX, grading, graphics, subtitling), and our Canadian composer Steph Copeland is writing the music that we will record with the RTVS Symphony Orchestra at the end of August 2023,“ producer Tibor Búza from B Production told FNE.
The estimated budget of 1,460,000 EUR is supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Radio and Television Slovakia.
The film has recently been selected by the TELEFILM CANADA for funding under the Production Program, which supports Canadian feature films in the production or post-production stage.
Bontonfilm will release the film in Slovak cinemas in October 2023, while the Czech premiere is expected in the spring of 2024.
Negotiations with sales agents are underway.
Production Information:
Producer:
B Production (Slovakia)
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AZYL Production (Slovakia)
DCTV (Canada)
Bontonfilm (Slovakia)
Credits:
Producers: Tibor Buza, Maros Hecko, Peter Veverka, David Carmody
Executive Producers: Don Carmody, Jean Beaubien, Ctibora Lenko Bley
Director: Michal Kunes Kováč
Story by: Maroš Hečko
Scriptwriters: Tomáš Dušička, Maroš Hečko, David Cormican
DoP: David Hoffman
Editor: Matej Beneš
Composer: Steph Copeland
Set designer: Pavol Andraško
Costume designer: Zuzana Bambušek Krejzková
Sound: Viktor Krivosudský
Cast: Eva Holubová, Bolek Polívka, Ady Hajdu, Daniel Fisher, Rachel Kramer , Anna Šišková, Éva Bandor, Dávid Hartl, Judit Pecháček, Janka Kovalčíková, Amie Trojanová
