11-05-2026

FNE at Cannes Film Festival 2026: Slovak Cinema in Cannes

By Slovak Film Institute

    What's Slovak in Cannes – Czech and Slovak pavilionAt the 79th edition of the Festival de Cannes(May 12 – 23, 2026), Slovakia will be represented at the Marché du Film (May 12 – 20, 2026) across three different programmes, as well as in the Producers on the Move programme.

    The upcoming feature fiction film Attention Whores by debut director Alice Bednáriková will be presented at a pitching session, the culmination of the screenwriting workshop La Résidence. Read an interview with Alice Bednáriková, who became the first Slovak director to take part in the 50th edition of this prestigious Paris-based residency programme organized by the festival itself.

    As part of Cannes Docs – Docs-in-Progress, the documentary film Sisters by director Tereza Bernátková will be presented. Read more about this Czech-Slovak-French co-production.

    Producer Agata Novinski will take part in the 27th edition of the Producers on the Move programme, a networking initiative by European Film Promotion. Read an interview with Agata Novinski.

    Slovak co-produced short films are included in the Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry market catalogue: the student documentary How to Listen to Fountains directed by Eva Sajanová, Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe! by animator Andrea Szelesová, and a triptych of films presented under the title Forms of Silence (screening on May 20 at 13:00, Palais F), comprising three short dance-experimental films: Aftermath of Silence (dir. Juraj Krén), Circle Within Us (dir. Lucia Juklová), and Relics (dir. Maroš Pulščák).

    Accredited participants of the Marché du Film can also watch three Slovak co-produced fairy tales at the market screenings.

    For the 22nd time, the Slovak Republic will have its representation at the Marché du Film within the joint Czech and Slovak pavilion (No. 139, Village International – Riviera Side). The Slovak Film Institute will ensure the presentation of Slovak audiovisual works at the stand while also providing a space for meetings between representatives of the domestic audiovisual industry and international producers, distributors, festival programmers, and other film professionals. In the pavilion, Slovak majority and minority co-productions will also be presented in the form of a postcard titled What's Slovak in Cannes?.

    Attention Whores

    | La Résidence |

    Director: Alica Bednáriková

    Production: nutprodukcia (SK), nutprodukce (CZ)

    Slovak producer: Jakub Viktorín

    Presentation:
    May 13 | 15.00 | Gray D’Albion Beach Hotel

    SK – CZ | in development | 90 min. | fiction

    Johana and Marika (both 16) are inseparable. Their bond thrives on rivalry and provocation. At an elite Slovak high school, they pull pranks and compete for attention, constantly testing how far they can go. Marika, already sexually experienced, flaunts it and treats Johana like she’s still a child. Tired of living in her shadow, Johana becomes desperate to prove herself. When Marika proposes a dangerous game to see who can seduce their new teacher first, Johana agrees, unaware of how quickly the game will cease to be one.

    Interview with Alica Bednáriková

     

    Sisters

    | Cannes Docs – Docs-in-Progress – Circle Showcase |

    Director: Tereza Bernátková

    Production: MasterFilm (CZ)

    Co-production: kerekesfilm (SK), Bachibouzouk & Les Poissons Volants (FR)

    Slovak co-producers: Tereza Tokárová, Peter Kerekes

    Presentation:
    May 18 | 11:45 | Lérins 1

    CZ – SK – FR | in production | 80 min. | documentary

    In the late 1950s, a group of nuns and 70 girls labeled as mentally disabled were relocated to the outskirts of Czechoslovakia. In isolation, they formed a female community shaped by daily labor. In a psychiatric institution, the nuns cared for the residents, while one of them captured their lives on 8mm film. These fragments now reveal the story of women pushed to the margins, opening up questions of women’s status, mental health, and the limits of institutional care.

    Profile of the film

     

    Producer on the Move 2026: Agata Novinski

    Agata Novinski is a Slovak producer working in the field of animated film. She achieved significant success with her debut, the feature-length puppet film Living Large, which premiered at the prestigious Annecy festival, where it won the Jury Award in the Contrechamp section, received the ECFA Award, and was also nominated for the European Film Awards. This year, she presented the animated film Tourists together with its director Mária Kralovič at the world’s largest short film festival in Clermont-Ferrand.

     

    Market screenings

    The Crystal Planet

    Arsen Anton Ostojić

    CZ – SK – HR

    Screening:

    May 14 | 15.45 | Olympia 9

     

    Princess Stella

    Miloslav Šmídmajer

    CZ – SK

    Screenings:

    May 12 | 9.30 | Palais C
    May 13 | 9.30 | online

     

    Sugar Candy

    Pavel Jandourek

    CZ – SK

    Screening:

    May 16 | 15.45 | Palais H

     

    Visit us at the pavilion of the Czech and Slovak Republic

    (No. 139, Village International – Riviera Side)

     

    Marché du Film will be attended by the following teams:

    Slovak Film Institute:

    Peter Dubecký | director general | May 15 – 19

    Rastislav Steranka | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | May 13 – 20

    Tomáš Hudák | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | May 12 – 20
    Barbara Nováková | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | May 12 – 20

     

    Slovak Audiovisual Fund:

    Vladimír Burianek | director | May 12 – 14

    Zuzana Bieliková | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | May 13 – 20

     

    More information about new and upcoming Slovak films can be found in our database, represented this year by a postcard

    designed by Slovak illustrator Alexandra Just:

    The presentation of Slovak cinema and the audiovisual industry at the Marché is organized by: 

    the Slovak Film Institute, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, and the Slovak Film Commission, an organizational unit of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund.