“I see a significant parallel between his life since about 1993 and that of Slovakia. It seems that, in a number of aspects, he has been through similar developments as Slovakia. He started standing on his own in the 1990s; he had a dream of having his own dance club and pursued it stubbornly. He experienced, similarly to Slovakia at its foundation, the era of business-mafia in the 1990s. That was what pushed him to a decision to give up the fight he had been experiencing here, because he was concerned about the safety of his family and left Slovakia. The need to constantly fight for something, however, has become a part of him over the years. That is perhaps why he often introduces his dance clubs on the Czech-German border by saying: “Welcome to my Slovak kingdom!“ The film was motivated by his inner need to articulate his experiences that are contradictory in terms of morals. This offers yet another parallel between him and Slovakia which is also gradually coming to recognise the need to come to terms with the process of its foundations and the subsequent developments. The film might have some healing effect for the country.”
What is “Slovakia”? How to explain the notion of “Slovakia” of the past 20 years to an unknown stranger, a visitor from another planet? What is the genetic makeup or the software for “Slovakia”? How to use it? How does it change?
Slovakia 2.0 is a film about twenty years of independent Slovakia as seen from the perspective of ten film directors. It is composed of ten 10-minute films of different genres ranging from drama, through animation and documentaries, to experimental film. The ten recognised film directors who offer an answer to what is Slovakia include a wide range of generations, views and genres, namely Juraj Herz, Martin Šulík, Peter Kerekes, Zuzana Liová, Mišo Suchý, Ondrej Rudavský, Iveta Grófová, Peter Krištúfek, Viera Čákanyová, and Miro Jelok.
The result is unique artistic reflection of contemporary history of Slovakia and, equally, a reflection of Slovak cinematography in its different forms.
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