18-12-2009

Foxes opens in Slovakia, plans Irish debut

By Jana Kadlecová

    The Irish-Czech-Slovak coproduction Foxes (Lištičky) by Slovak director Mira Fornay opened in Slovakia December 10, following its Slovak premiere at the Bratislava film festival, distributed by Continental Film, s.r.o. (www.continental-film.sk).

    Foxes had 575 admissions on its opening week-end, according to Jana Studena from Continental Film

    The feature film debut of Fornay, Foxes had a budget of 1,145,000 Euro, Viktor Schwarcz from the production company Cineart TV Prague told FNE. The international premiere took place at the International Film Festival in Venice; the first Slovak film since 1989 that was officially selected to Venice. It was also screened at FilmFestival Cottbus and in the Pusan Film Festival. In contrast with the success at the international festivals the Slovak admission looks disappointing; it was one of the weakest openings for a Slovak film during an exceptionally strong year for local productions.

    Other Slovak premieres of this year such as Soul at Peace, Mosquito's´ Tango and Bratislavafilm reached much wider audience. Soul at Peace (www.forza.sk) was watched by 20,464 viewers during its first weekend. The huge difference might be explained by different PR strategies. It also suggests that premiering at an international film festival is prestigious but does not have an automatically positive impact on the film's premiere at the local level.

    "Foxes reached 1,600 admissions during the opening weekend in Czech Republic," said Czech producer Schwarcz. Foray confirmed for FNE that Foxes will be distributed soon in Ireland. The Irish production company Samson Films (www.samsonfilms.com), with its 47 percent share in the film, is the main producer.The Czech production company Cineart TV Prague has 40% and the small Slovak production company Miras has 13%.

    Contacts:

    Cineart TV Prague

    Vzdušná 2
    14200 Praha 4
    Czech Republic Phone +420 261 131 111 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Mira Fornay

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Samson Films

    www.samsonfilms.com