AT FULL THROTTLE
The story of a life of struggle in a region left behind by the country's transition to market economy. The main protagonist is a divorced yet determined and dogged, fighting-against-the-odds quinquagenarian ex-miner Jaroslav whose health has thwarted his lifelong dream to become a racing driver. A new relationship with his childhood love Jitka brings frustrated Jaroslav new hope for his personal life as well as his auto racing dream: Jitka is an excellent driver who could hardly find a better mentor and mechanic than Jaroslav. Nevertheless, Jaroslav cannot get away from his past and the shape of his new hope remains uncertain.
THIS IS NOT ME
This film paints an intimate picture of the life of legendary Slovak singer Richard Muller against the backdrop of his a capella concert tour with the band Fragile. It explores Richard's innermost feelings, which are greatly affected by manic-depressive disorder, which he has suffered from for nearly two decades. The film also explores the singer's past, taking a closer look at a part of his career marked by turbulent relationships with women and by drugs. This is crucial to understanding Muller's character and his career as a whole. The film offers an authentic and unembellished look into the singer's inner world as well as into the production of the concert tour.
COOLTURE
Humorous, ironic, but also a serious film about the meaning and status of Slovak culture. Culture has become one of the ingredients businesses. Hence, its quality is subject to commercial interests far more than before 1989, when it was transformed into different easily digestible genres but of questionable quality. Despite the social-cultural release after the fall of communism, our culture is still looking for its identity. This culture in its adolescence finds it difficult to progress. New media and the Internet have become the most widespread forms of dissemination. There has been a significant outflow of viewers from traditional cultural events. New phenomena related to the change in lifestyle have appeared. What does Slovak culture look like today?
COMEBACK
The story of a repeat criminals‘reintegration trappedd in a vicious circle. After years spent in Slovakia’s best guarded prison, you are out. The everyday drill you were bound to obey changes overnight. You know that none of your inmates ever managed to bounce back out there. Fifteen or twenty years from behind the bars go amiss. Once out, you are empty-handed. No money earned. No family left, no home either. Finally free, you have no idea how to find a bus stop or how to go home. You don’t have one, in fact. Your former friends have a status, a job, a place to live, a wife and children, but you have to start from the scratch. Baffled, you observe what’s new to you, women, cars, smartphones, fashion – all of it has changed, but you remain the same. You learn to use a mobile, to catch up. You apply for a job, but your record is as long as a Tesco roll. Prison has become your home.
VRBOVIAN WIND
The story of a man who stopped drinking to begin to live again. Film about a peculiar musician and founder of the festival Vrbovian Winds. Brano Jobus restarted his rocket engine. Once "Alcoholic dick" now fired and excited to fly high again. Organizes festival, plays in several bands and domestic Vrbovian projects: Carpathian ridges, Vrbovian winners, Abuse, Vrbovian willows, 13th battalion. In loved village Vrbove Brano created a magical World together with his brother called Sir Brother. Inventor, presenter, director of the legendary Formula race 0 and race on rocket horses specializing in the production of unique musical instruments, which have become an integral part of their unmistakable industrial folklore.
THE CUSTOMS-JEEPERS CREEPERS
Family or carreer? What is the purpose of a family nowadays? How does the new phenomena affect it? Many more questions are asked throughtout a TV documentary (26 min), which is part of a TV series Colnica / The Customs. The film is a reflexion taken by a Ladce-based family of eleven, the Ježos, contemplating the family as the basic social model. The father’s hobby provides plenty of materials from the family archive, documenting the ever-growing number of family members. Their individual worldviews form a unique in-family cross-generational picture of how family-related topics on love, life and faith are perceived.
SLOVAK CINEMA - FEAR AND THRILL
The documentary cycle Slovak Cinema is a view of the Slovak film as seen from the perspective of the young generation of filmmakers. Fear and Thrill in my view presents the filmmaker’s concern about the future of Slovak film, which is still perceived as minor with the audience. The vast majority of Slovak films is delivered by unsuccessful authors, unable to present topics of interest; oddly enough, they are regularly encouraged and supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund. After all, they might be the best choice. Or not? The film shifts through older „Chudík“ police stories, Grečner, Trančík and Balco feature films up to the most recent, unfortunately, unsuccessful films, realized with zero state support. The final
BEVERLY HILLS 01863
The film is a short documentary from a TV series set in my native village Ladce. Inspired by encounters and random stroll observations, it puts focus on the thirty-somethings, who were largely affected by the 1990s. The film is an introduction to a never-ending epos on Ladce (Our L.A.), a film probe into the lives of my childhood friends and my own.
TIBOR HUSZAR - COMEBACK
Part of a TV series on Slovak photographers, this documentary film depicts the comeback of Slovakia’s major photo artist. A local patriot from Réca (Slovakia), Tibor Huszár moved back to Paris, a city he was bound to leave earlier in order to recover. The film documents him in the process of making photographs for his upcoming book. Paris city strolls provide an array of opportunities for studying the play of light and shade, which became the centre-stage of his work after recovery. The artist’s charms, allure and vigour speak volumes; the one and only Tibor Huszár is back. Tibor Huszár passed away shortly upon completing the documentary.
8MM BOYS
Set in the late 1970s , the TV documentary from Konzervy času/Time i a Can cycle gives an account of a group of Ladce film amateurs clubbed around its founder, Miro Remo Sr, my father. The Eight Boys tells a story of people who were captured by the lure of 8mm film medium, the only affordable at the time. It soon became the centre of their lives and provided an opportunity to freely express their mind on issues the young, vigorous people of their time would tackle. Eventually, life had different things in store for them. As the film-driven dreams fade away, the hope remains to be passed on to the upcoming generations. Never mind, the Eight-Boys are still good to shoot. And they will.
POHODA FESTIVAL
The film is a documentary about Slovakia’s major music festival Pohoda, annually attended by approx. 30,000 fans of all ages. My crew and I take an ironic insight into the never-before-seen backstage and reveal all kinds of behind-the-scene struggles the organizers are faced with. Starring: Vrbovskí víťazi, Chiki liki tu-a, Ink Midjet a Pjoni, Colegium musicum, Bez ladu a skladu, B-komplex, Leftfield, Chose Gonzales and others.
ARSY-VERSY
The film is a story of a mother and her son Lubos who lives in a world turned upside-down, or, arsy-versy. Lubos broke free from the world as generally conceived by others to arrive at the supreme human-nature symbiosis; he flew away to a planet purely inhabited by butterflies - intelligent beings. The sole focus of his life energy, enriched by a great deal of empathy, is being chanelled into his amateur photography and film making, the climax of his fascination with natural phenomenona being his unique study of bats. By way of communicating with the upside-down creatures he is fascinated with, he attempts to achieve the utmost understanding between man and beast. He is assisted by his mother who has been a great reaserch and life support to him, but is now apprehensive about her son’s future. „What will become of the kid?“ she wonders. Those who „knew“ him thought him lost up to the moment they saw the arsy-versy film; now it’s them who are losing it!
ECCE HOMO
Ecce Homo is a film with the main theme being the question “Are we a comprehensive society”? Speaking of compassion for the elderly as confronted with the current absurd mass worship “Superstar“, it might as well express anxiety of aging. The concern might arise from the society being unable to take care of the elderly, who, more importantly, are subject to “super-massage” while being left uncared-for. My aim was to depict the appallingly grim real-life atmosphere of the general feeling. To me, coming to grips with the harsh reality is just as appalling.
COLD JOINT
Cold relationships make part of our lives. Called „ill emotions“ these days. Of all creatures, children alone seem to be spared the illness despite being exposed to it on a daily basis. Apparently, ill emotions are omnipresent. Acting just like any regular lethal disease, this illness takes its time. Piling up in parents‘ souls, little by little it searches its way to break through the child’s immunity until they find themselves absorbed in the world controlled by cold, ill-functioning joints, relationships in fact. The main protagonist is an eleven year old girl born to a low-class family. Raised in the harsh conditions of industrial ambiance, the little girl eventually comes to terms with the grave emotional condition her family is faced with.