20th Bratislava International Film Festival

(1942, Nitra, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak film director, animator
and pedagogue. His motion pictures have garnered awards at domestic and international
film festivals. He directed animated films A Wise Piglet (1982), Figures
and Figurines, A Night Tale (both 1983), Cock-A-Doodle-Doo (1985) as well as several
TV series such as The Tiniest Heroes (1984-90) or Bratislava Tales (1991-93).

(1979, Ciudad de México, Mexico) ranks among the most prominent
Mexican filmmakers. His films regularly appear and attract accolade at the
Cannes IFF; After Lucia (Después de Lucía, 2012) won Un Certain Regard Award
here while Chronic (2015) clinched Best Screenplay award and April’s Daughter
won Special Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section. Besides his own films,
Franco has also produced works by other directors, including Gabriel Ripstein’s
600 Miles (600 Millas – Best Debut at Berlinale 2015) or Lorenzo Vigas’ From Afar
(Desde allá – Golden Lion at the Venice IFF in 2015).

(1984, Karlsruhe, Germany) is a media artist and animation freelancer currently
based in Cologne. He studied philosophy in Berlin and media art at the Academy
of Media Arts in Cologne.

Teemu Nikki (1975, Finland) has written and directed 16 short films since 1995, including one short documentary. In 2012, he made his first feature-length film, Simo Times Three. Three years later, he made another fiction feature, Lovemilla, based on
a TV series of the same name. Currently, he is applying the spit and polish on his latest feature film, Euthanizer.

Mikko Kuparinen (1979, Finland) collected main prizes at international film festivals for each of his last three short films. His fiction debut was a romantic comedy, Body Fat Index of Love (2012). His English-language feature-length debut, 2 Nights till Morning, premiered at the Montreal IFF 2015, winning the Best Director award.

Miikka Leskinen (1978, Finland) is a film editor and director who graduated from the editor’s program at London’s National Film and Television School in 2007. He was the editor for Virunga (2014), a documentary feature about people risking their lives to save the last of the world’s mountain gorillas that won Primetime Emmy for cinematography and earned Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.

Jussi Hiltunen (1984, Rovaniemi, Finland) once witnessed a rare street shooting in his hometown of Rovaniemi, which inspired him to shoot All Hallows’ Week. Besides this film, he has also made two other shorts, The Legacy and Winterheart, in his native town where he used a film camera for the first time at the age of twelve.

Pekka Veikkolainen (1982, Finland) majored in graphic design at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. He has focused on animation and illustrations since 2000.

Hannes Vartiainen (1980, Finland) graduated from the Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia in 2004, majoring in film directing. Together with Veikkolainen they have made several films.

Martina Buchelová (1988, Rimavská Sobota, Czechoslovakia) is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in film and television directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. In 2015 her short film, Green Line (2014), was selected for the Future Frames section at the Karlovy Vary IFF. Her latest picture, Magic Moments (2016), had a world premiere at the Toronto IFF.

Eva Sekerešová (1992, Stará Kremnička) nedávno ukončila magisterské štúdium animovanej tvorby na Vysokej škole múzických umení v Bratislave so svojím krátkym animovaným filmom Jahodové dni. Autorka rada vytvára charaktery založené na stereotypoch, pričom ich dostáva do rôznych vtipných a trápnych situácií, ktoré mnohí poznáme zo života.

Michal Blaško (1989, Bratislava, Československo) je študentom magisterského stupňa Ateliéru hranej réžie na Filmovej a televíznej fakulte VŠMU v Bratislave. Jeho krátkometrážny film Strach (2015) mal premiéru na MFF v San Sebastiane. Atlantída, 2003 (2017) bola uvedená v sekcii Cinéfondation na MFF v Cannes i v sekcii Prvé podanie na MFF Karlovy Vary.

(1967, Paris, France) graduated in film studies from Université
de Paris 1 and in film directing from La Fémis. As an auteur he continues to
develop his cinematic style, being well-versed in cinema history and inspired by
his favourite filmmakers such as Douglas Sirk or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Like
them, Ozon has transformed his fascination with the inner world of women into
a great number of complex female characters with secrets. Slovak cinemagoers
are familiar with his previous pictures, including 8 Women (2002), Swimming Pool
(2003), 5×2 (2004), Time to Leave (2005), Angel (2007), Potiche (2010), or Young
& Beautiful (2013).

Štefan Uher (1930, Prievidza, Czechoslovakia – 1993, Bratislava, Slovakia) remains one of the most prominent auteurs of the Slovak cinema. He graduated from Prague’s FAMU, majoring in documentary filmmaking, and soon began his professional career in the domain of documentary and short films before he gravitated toward fiction. His second fiction feature, Sun in the Net (Slnko v sieti, 1962), is still considered the work that initiated the Czechoslovak new wave in cinema. He also made a number of other remarkable films including The Organ (Organ, 1964), Miraculous Virgin (Panna Zázračnica, 1966), The Three Daughters (Tri dcéry, 1968), If i Had a Gun (Keby som mal pušku, 1971) or She Kept Asking for the Moon (Pásla kone na betóne, 1982).

Semih Kaplanoğlu (1963, Izmir, Turkey) is an award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter. His debut feature, Away From Home (Herkes Kendi Evinde, 2001), won Best Director award at the Singapore IFF and his second feature, Angel’s Fall (Meleğin Düşüşü), premiered at the Berlinale Forum in 2005. After that, he embarked on producing and directing the Yusuf Trilogy: Egg (Yumurta, 2007) premiered in Cannes, Milk (Süt, 2008) premiered in Venice and Honey (Bal, 2010) won the Golden Bear Award at Berlinale. Kaplanoğlu is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential directors in Turkish cinema.

Denis Côté (1973, Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, Canada) has made ten feature-length films, both fiction and documentary, since his debut in 2005. He is a darling particularly at the IFF in Locarno, which has screened five of his films and two of them – All That She Wants (2008) and Curling (2010) – were decorated for best directing. Four of his other films have been presented at Berlinale, including Vic and Flo Saw a Bear, which won the Alfred Bauer Award in 2013 for a “feature film that opens new perspectives on cinematic art”. His latest film so far, A Skin So Soft, premiered this year at Locarno.

Buster Keaton (1895, Piqua, Kansas, USA – 1966, Woodland Hills, California, USA) became famous under the household name of Frigo thanks to his unmistakable poker face in the silent film era. With the onset of sound film his star set and didn’t rise again until the 1950s. His most legendary motion pictures include Sherlock Jr. (1924) and The General (1927).

Charles Chaplin (1889, London, United Kingdom – 1977, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland) is considered one of the early pioneers of cinema. He became world-famous as Tramp in the silent film era. From the plethora of legendary films he made, let us mention The Kid, Modern Times or The Great Dictator. In 1972, he won the Honorary Academy Award for “the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century”.

Robert Greene (1976, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA) is a director, editor and film essayist. His filmography includes the Gotham Awards-nominated Actress (2014), Fake It So Real (2012), and Kati with an i (2010). Greene’s editing credits include Queen of Earth (2015) and Listen Up Philip (2014) by Alex Ross Perry, Approaching the Elephant (2014) by Amanda Rose Wilder, and Christmas, Again (2014) by Charles Poekel. Robert writes for the Sight & Sound magazine and is the filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri.

Otakar Krivánek (1931, Levoča, Czechoslovakia – 1997, Bratislava, Slovakia) was a Slovak director and scriptwriter. Although he majored in stage directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, he soon began to shoot newsreels (in 1958) and later drifted toward documentary films. He co-authored The Time We Live In, a documentary that captures the democratisation process in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s. In the following decade, he delved into making fiction features, especially films for children and youngsters.

Elia Kazan (1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, now Istanbul, Turkey – 2003, New York City, New York, USA) ranks among the most influential post-war American directors. He was the co-founder of the Actors Studio, which pioneered a new type of film acting, so-called method acting. Besides the Honorary Academy Award, he also won two Academy Awards for directing (Gentleman’s Agreement, On the Waterfront). Before he was awarded the Honorary Golden Berlin Bear, his films scored success not only at Berlinale (Man on a Tightrope) but also in Cannes (East of Eden), Venice (Panic in the Streets, A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront) or San Sebastian (America America).

Soňa Maletzová (1992, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) is a documentary directress and photographer. This year, she graduated from Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) with her mid-length documentary on Marián Varga. As a photographer, she has held exhibitions in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Her series on Bratislava’s suburbs was acknowledged by the Slovak Press Photo. She also makes music videos, working primarily with the band called Queer Jane.

Vít Klusák (1980, Prague, Czechoslovakia) together with his classmate Filip Remunda founded a production company Hypermarket Film while studying documentary filmmaking at Prague’s FAMU. This company later produced their joint debut, Czech Dream (Český sen, 2004), a documentary comedy about opening a fake hypermarket, which explores the power of advertising. The company continues to produce author-driven documentaries, including a television cycle, Czech Journal (Český žurnál, 2013 – 2017). Klusák has repeatedly proven a great instinct for issues and filmmaking methods that provoke a vivid public discourse.

Gürcan Keltek (1973, Izmir, Turkey) graduated in film at Dokuz Eylül University in his hometown. Upon graduation, he directed several documentary shorts including Overtime (2012), which was selected at Visions Du Reel and DOK Leipzig.
His medium-length film, Colony (2015), was screened at FIDMarseille and earned him the Best Balkan Newcomer Award at Dokufest. His first fiction feature film, Meteors (2017), premiered at the Concorso Cineasti del presente section of the Locarno IFF.

(1977, Perumkadavila, India) completed his studies of zoology at VTM NSS College
in Dhanuvachapuram. Upon his post-graduate studies of law, he began to work
as a lawyer before drifting toward cinema. In 2001, he founded Kazhcha Film Forum,
a crowdfunding platform to support independent filmmaking that also financed
his first motion pictures. Sexy Durga is his third feature-length film that won
the main award, Hivos Tiger, at the Rotterdam IFF in 2017.

(1977, Belgrade, Yugoslavia) graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic
Arts in Belgrade. As a co-writer, he collaborated with Stefan Arsenijević on an
omnibus film, Lost and Found (Izgubljeno-nađeno, 2005), and a feature film, Love
and Other Crimes (Ljubav i drugi zločini, 2008), which premiered at the Berlinale
and won two Best Script awards at national festivals. His first feature film, Practical
Guide to Belgrade with Singing and Crying (Praktičan vodič kroz Beograd sa
pevanjem i plakanjem, 2011), premiered at the Karlovy Vary IFF in the East of the
West competition and won several national and international awards.

(1971, Riga, Latvia) is an opera, film and theatre director. Since
his graduation from the Latvian Academy of Culture, he has established himself
as an acclaimed director of operas in Latvia and Germany. Kairišs has directed
four documentary and six fiction features.
He made his debut in 1998 with a short documentary, The Train. His first feature-
-length movie, Leaving by the Way (Pa celam aizejot, 2002), won Latvian National
Film Award for the best feature, screened in the official competition of the Karlovy
Vary IFF and received an award for the best debut at the Raindance Film Festival.

(1968, Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany) majored in German studies
and philosophy at universities in Berlin, Munich and Vienna and later
completed her studies of film directing in Vienna. Her graduation film,
Be My Star (Mein Stern, 2001), brought her a nomination for Adolf Grimme Award
in 2002 and the FIPRESCI Award at the Toronto IFF. Her second motion picture,
Longing (Sehnsucht, 2006), was chosen for the main competition at Berlinale.
Western (2017) is her third feature-length film.

(1986, Umeå, Sweden) has roots in two cultures as she has a Swedish mother
and a Sámi father. Since 2006, Kernell has directed several acclaimed shorts
for the Direktörn & Fabrikörn production company, including
The Holiday Sister (Semestersystern) and Sharing All (Att dela allt). She has studied
writing for the stage and audio-visual media at Biskops-Arnö and has completed
the Filmpool Nord course entitled “Screenwriting for low-budget feature films”.
In 2009, she was accepted by the National Film School of Denmark to its prestigious
four-year Film Directing programme.

(1962, Mohammédia, Morocco) is a French director who drew
attention to himself as co-screenwriter and editor of films by French director
Laurent Cantet, for instance his drama The Class (Entre les murs, 2008), which
won Golden Palm at the Cannes IFF. His feature-length directorial debut, They
Came Back (Les Revenants, 2004), inspired a successful television series of the
same name. His second film, Eastern Boys, won the Venice Horizons Award in
2014. For his most recent picture, 120 BPM (Beats per Minute), Campillo received
Grand Prix of the Jury along with the FIPRESCI Award at this year’s Cannes IFF.

Adrian Silisteanu (1975, Bacău, Romania) graduated from the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, majoring in cinematography, while also studying digital cinematography at the National Audiovisual Institute in Paris. He worked as DP on four feature films directed by Adrian Sitaru as well as on The Worthy (2016), the latest feature by Ali Mosafa. Written/Unwritten is his second short film.

(1970, Melbourne, Australia) lived in New York City for over
ten years, working in a theatre, before enrolling to a film school. His short films
have screened in Australia and internationally. His documentary, From Dope to
Dalai Lama, won the IF Award for Best Short Documentary. His graduation short
film, Father’s Day, won Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the Swinburne
University Awards. West of Sunshine, whose plot is largely based on Father’s Day,
is his first feature-length film.

(1982, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is the writer and director of
short films, López’s Corner (Rincón de López) and Mares and Parakeets (Yeguas
y Cotorras), that premiered during the Critics’ Week at the 2012 Cannes IFF. Sundays
(Sunnuntaisin, 2014), a short film she co-wrote and co-directed with Kræsten
Kusk, was selected for Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Her solo feature directorial
debut, Hunting Season was screened as part of the International Critics’ Week at
this year’s Venice IFF, winning the SIAE Audience Award.

(1982, Tehran, Iran) studied filmmaking in Italy. Two of his short films,
More Than Two Hours (Bishatar az do Saat, 2013) and The Silence (Il Silenzio, 2016,
co-directed by Farnoosh Samadi), were in competition at the Cannes IFF. His
short film, The Baby (2014), premiered in competition of the Venice IFF. His short
films have been screened at more than 600 film festivals around the world and
won more than 150 international awards. Disappearance is his first feature film.

Aleksander Johan Andreassen (1982, Bodø, Norway) is an artist and filmmaker with an MFA degree from the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. His works have been screened at group exhibitions and film festivals worldwide, most recently Clearings (Lysninger, 2016), All Thoughts Are Kin (Alle tankers slekt, 2015) and Roy (2014).

(1968, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia) graduated from the Academy of Performing
Arts in Sarajevo. His graduation short film, Paycheck (Prva plata, 2005),
was nominated for the European Film Award. He focused his first feature-length
documentary, Carnival (Karneval, 2006), on the dramatic events of the 1990s that
put former Yugoslavia through a series of civil wars. He has worked on several
successful films as assistant director, including three films by Jasmila Źbanić:
Grbavica (2006, Golden Bear at the Berlinale), On the Path (2010), and For Those
Who Can Tell No Tales (2013). Men Don’t Cry is his fiction debut.

Elena Brodach (1984, Moscow, USSR) graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute in 2006. Currently, she is studying film directing at High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors in Moscow, Russia, under the tutorship of Vladimir Khotinenko, Pavel Finn, and Vladimir Fenchenko. Next (2016) is her second film.

(1985, Venissieux, France) earned a master’s degree in General
and Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne University and studied cinema at the
National Film School, La Fémis. Her first feature film, Montparnasse Bienvenüe,
premiered in Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes IFF, winning the
Caméra d’Or award for the best debut of the festival.

(1987, Duhok, Iraq) was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and came to Germany
as a refugee at the age of nine. In 2008 she began to study fiction film directing
at the Baden-Wurttemberg Film Academy. Her mid-length film, Trattoria, premiered
at the Berlin IFF in 2012. House without Roof is her graduation film, which won
Grand Prix Special des Amériques at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2016.

Katie Davies is an artist dedicated to exploring the construction of identities, their reflections and manipulations. Issues of nationalism, violence and democracy form the centrepiece of her videos and installations, most remarkable of which include Commonwealth (2009), The Laws of the Marches (2015), and Sleeping in Public (2017).

(1983, Woodland Hills, California, USA) wrote, directed and produced
Going Back, a short film that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2010.
The film went on to screen at the BFI London Film Festival and Cannes Short Film
Corner. As a film journalist and critic, he has written for Soma Magazine, AOL Moviefone,
Slant, and Little Joe. To produce his first feature-length film, Easy Living,
Adam obtained a Jerome Foundation production grant and a Film Independent
AbelCine grant. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Jules Comes (1984, Roermond, Netherlands) majored in audio-visual arts at the Sint-Lukas School of Arts in Brussels. In his films, he strives to focus on socially relevant issues. After two short films, City Child (Stadskind, 2010) and Pilgrim (Pelgrim, 2011), he graduated in 2012 with This Is Ronald (Dit Is Ronald). Comes lives in Brussels and currently is working on several new feature and documentary projects

Kaveh Mazaheri (1981, Tehran, Iran) first worked as a film reviewer before he began to shoot his own films. So far, he has made four independent shorts and more than twenty documentaries for television. His most characteristic films include a documentary,
a Report about Mina (2015), and a short fiction, Retouch (2017).

Sean Mullan (1992, Derry, Northern Ireland) is an artist based in South London who works in cinema, sculpture, sound and their mutual combinations. He studied Fine Arts at Wimbledon College of Art in London. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

(1977, Nice, France) had shot six short films before introducing his debut Les Rencontres d’après minuit (You And the Night, 2013) at the Critics’ Week in Cannes. His film Les Isles (Islands, 2017) won the Best Short Film Award at the International Bratislava Film Festival. Un couteau dans la coeur (Knife + Heart, 2018) is his second feature film.

Brenda Lien (1995, Offenbach am Main, Germany) is an independent filmmaker and film music composer. She has been studying art with a special focus on film and animation at the University of Art and Design in Offenbach since 2012.