Filmmaker guests of 4 Elements

Next week, Banská Štiavnica will experience the film event of its cultural summer. The 4 Elements Summer Film Festival whose program is dedicated to the topic of CHAOS this year, will start on Wednesday, August 10, and will continue until Sunday, August 14, 2022. It will bring to the city more than 30 themed films and accompanying events, a program for both adult and children’s audiences, but also inspiring guests.

In the amphitheater of Banská Štiavnica, with a wonderful view, the festival will screen, at an exclusive premiere, the new Slovak film Goldilocks and the Glorious Losers. A stylish romantic gangster film from the wild south of Slovakia tells a story about why you should be afraid of people who hand you a pen and say that you just need to sign here. It also talks about how unexpected love can complicate an essentially comfortable life for criminals and how far reasonable people can go when overcome by pride. The first Slovak screening of the film will be personally introduced by director Rasťo Boroš, together with cinematographer Tomasz Wierzbicki and actors Milan Ondrík, Attila Mokos, and Tomáš Mischur.

Viera Dubačová is known as a theater professional, cultural manager, activist, and former politician. At 4 Elements, she will present herself as a director and introduce her film Those Who Stayed. She filmed it in Ukraine after the country was invaded by Russian troops. Together with a cameraman, she visited places that the Russian army occupied and bombed: Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, Ozera. They recorded a series of statements and stories there about people who had not run away and stayed despite their lives being threatened: to help, to live, to survive. The film will be presented to the public for the very first time, and the creator will come to discuss the situation and filming in Ukraine with the audience.

Only a few weeks ago, the animated film Journey to Yourland directed by Peter Budinský, premiered in Slovak cinemas. A film that combines the so-called steampunk aesthetics with an adventure story for children, is the result of the work of a team that has been working on it since 2013. The story of Riki, who unexpectedly gets transported into the magical world of Yourland, will be screened at the festival as part of 4 Elements for Kids – a program for the whole family. Peter Badač, the producert of the film, will come to talk about the film’s journey from the birth of the idea to its release in cinemas in Slovakia and abroad.

In addition to the film program, 4 Elements for Kids has also prepared an open art workshop, where children will be able to make themselves or their loved ones happy with a postcard that comes to life after being scanned into a phone. The workshop was prepared together with the DAFilms SK streaming service, which brings new films to Slovak homes every week and whose program also includes the DAFilms Junior section, dedicated specifically to children’s audiences. Thanks to this collaboration, director of animated films Kris Sagan, will lead the workshop. The DAFilms SK service also offers on its website (www.dafilms.sk) a program special, where those who are interested can watch a selection of Slovak, Czech, and foreign films, dedicated to the topic of the current edition of 4 Elements – chaos.