SERVANTS
O.V. in Slovak subtitled in Spanish
"I want the audience to understand how easy it is to end up on the wrong side of history," says Ostrochovský (Koza), speaking about this austere, tense and forceful film about the relationship of the Catholic Church and the communist regime in the Czechoslovakia of 1980. Released in the new Encounters section of the Berlinale. The dilemma of letting yourself be crushed or cooperating with the authorities is captured here in the story of the young seminarians Michal and Juraj, who have to decide whether to remain faithful to their idealism, or give in to the pressure of the draconian surveillance imposed by the secret police.
Direction: Ivan Ostrochovský
Script: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Leščák, Ivan Ostrochovský
Cinematography: Juraj Chlpík
Editing: Jan Daňhel, Martin Malo, Maroš Šlapeta
Music: Miroslav Tóth, Cristian Lolea
Sound: Miroslav Tóth, Michal Novinski, Tobiáš Potočný
Cast: Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovič, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko, Milan Mikulčík, Tomáš Turek, Vladimír Zboroň, Martin Šulík, Vladimír Obšil, Zvonko Lakčević
Production: Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský, Katarína Tomková, Albert Malinovský
Production Company: Punkchart films , Point Film
Ivan Ostrochovský
He was born in Žilina, Slovakia, in 1972. He studied documentary directing, after which he worked as a director and producer in Bratislava. After making numerous short films and series, he directed his first feature documentary, Velvet Terrorists, which premiered at the 2014 Berlinale, and won numerous awards at various international festivals. His fiction debut, Koza (2015), premiered at the Berlinale, was shown in Seville and obtained recognition at festivals such as IndieLisboa, Mar del Plata and VIlnius, as well as representing Slovakia at the Oscars in 2016. His latest film, Servants, premiered in the Encounters section of the Berlinale 2020.