Slovakian political drama Our People has won the €50,000 Series Mania Forum best project sward.
Our People was one of 15 projects pitched at the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions on the first day of the Forum, the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival.
The six-part drama focuses on the murder of a journalist which overthrows the balance of power in Slovakia. It is produced by Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý for nutprodukcia and is written by Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra and directed by Tereza Nvotová.
It was selected by a jury led by Nina Lederman, evp global scripted development & programming, Sony Pictures Television.
Our People was one of 15 projects pitched at the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions on the first day of the Forum, the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival.
The six-part drama focuses on the murder of a journalist which overthrows the balance of power in Slovakia. It is produced by Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý for nutprodukcia and is written by Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra and directed by Tereza Nvotová.
It was selected by a jury led by Nina Lederman, evp global scripted development & programming, Sony Pictures Television.
- 3/20/2024
- ScreenDaily
Slovakian drama series Our People has won the Series Mania Co-Pro Pitch and taken home a €50,000 development prize.
The pitch beat out competition from 14 other titles to win the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award following a day of pitching against projects from the likes of Japan, France, Germany and Eastern Europe.
The pitching team — Jakub Viktorín, Tomáš Hrubý and Miro Sifra — drew an impromptu round of applause from the audience following their presentation, which intrigued the audience by describing their eureka moment while researching the crime drama story, saying, it “Felt like the world of Fargo.”
The six-part political drama series, from Nutprodukcia, is based on the grim true-life tale about the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. “These are stupid criminals. They were getting advice [to commit murder] from fortune tellers,” said Hrubý.
Kuciak has been investigating tax fraud among top Slovakian criminals and several people...
The pitch beat out competition from 14 other titles to win the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award following a day of pitching against projects from the likes of Japan, France, Germany and Eastern Europe.
The pitching team — Jakub Viktorín, Tomáš Hrubý and Miro Sifra — drew an impromptu round of applause from the audience following their presentation, which intrigued the audience by describing their eureka moment while researching the crime drama story, saying, it “Felt like the world of Fargo.”
The six-part political drama series, from Nutprodukcia, is based on the grim true-life tale about the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. “These are stupid criminals. They were getting advice [to commit murder] from fortune tellers,” said Hrubý.
Kuciak has been investigating tax fraud among top Slovakian criminals and several people...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
An explosive political drama retracing the 2018 murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, “Our People” claimed the best project award at this year’s Series Mania Forum.
Winning €50,000 in prize money and earning an enhanced international stature, the unflinching miniseries should now see an easier path forward – particularly given the chilly reception it found with funding authorities in native Slovakia.
“We thought it impossible,” said director Tereza Nvotova as she claimed the Series Mania prize. “We thought it was dead, because the government in Slovakia really doesn’t want this story told. And we think this story is so important not just because of what is happening in Slovakia, and not just because Jan and Martina were murdered.”
“We just want to tell the truth,” Nvotova continued. “The world is turning very dark, and I think we all can feel it. We are all scared and...
Winning €50,000 in prize money and earning an enhanced international stature, the unflinching miniseries should now see an easier path forward – particularly given the chilly reception it found with funding authorities in native Slovakia.
“We thought it impossible,” said director Tereza Nvotova as she claimed the Series Mania prize. “We thought it was dead, because the government in Slovakia really doesn’t want this story told. And we think this story is so important not just because of what is happening in Slovakia, and not just because Jan and Martina were murdered.”
“We just want to tell the truth,” Nvotova continued. “The world is turning very dark, and I think we all can feel it. We are all scared and...
- 3/19/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Our People, a political drama series from Slovakia, has won the prize for best pitch at the 2024 Series Mania television festival.
The series explores the true story of the 2018 assassination of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, at their home. Prior to his death, Kuicak had exposed corruption at the highest level of national politics, drawing connections between political leaders, mafia bosses and corrupt businessmen. The twin murders shocked the country and triggered a political crisis, eventually leading to the collapse of the Slovak government.
Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra co-wrote Our People, with Nvotová directing and Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý producing for nutprodukcia. Nvotová said she drew inspiration from the work of Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short) to combine humor with the dark subject matter of the series, which is based on more than 50,000 pages of case files.
A jury, headed by Nina Lederman,...
The series explores the true story of the 2018 assassination of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, at their home. Prior to his death, Kuicak had exposed corruption at the highest level of national politics, drawing connections between political leaders, mafia bosses and corrupt businessmen. The twin murders shocked the country and triggered a political crisis, eventually leading to the collapse of the Slovak government.
Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra co-wrote Our People, with Nvotová directing and Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý producing for nutprodukcia. Nvotová said she drew inspiration from the work of Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short) to combine humor with the dark subject matter of the series, which is based on more than 50,000 pages of case files.
A jury, headed by Nina Lederman,...
- 3/19/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Klára Tasovská’s film follows the story of Czechoslovak photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková
Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes has boarded Klára Tasovská’s feature documentary I’m Not Everything I Want to Be ahead of its world premiere in Berlinale’s Panorama strand.
The film follows the story of Libuše Jarcovjáková, a rebellious Czechoslovak photographer, whose openly personal body of work was only recently discovered by the international photographic community. Earlier this year the film received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Jarcovjáková’s story begins in Prague in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s,...
Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes has boarded Klára Tasovská’s feature documentary I’m Not Everything I Want to Be ahead of its world premiere in Berlinale’s Panorama strand.
The film follows the story of Libuše Jarcovjáková, a rebellious Czechoslovak photographer, whose openly personal body of work was only recently discovered by the international photographic community. Earlier this year the film received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Jarcovjáková’s story begins in Prague in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
“Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light” continues to ward off the darkness.
LevelK’s Czech stop-motion animation has sold to over 40 territories, including Germany (Eksystent Distribution), France (Eurozoom /Panoranime), Spain (MODIband Projectes Culturals), Italy (Just Wanted), Portugal (Film4you), Israel (New Cinema), Slovenia (Demiurg), Mena (Empire Networks), Switzerland (Out-side the Box), Estonia (Estin Film) Sweden (Njutafilms) and Denmark (Angel Distribution).
“From the first moment we watched it, we saw its uniqueness and quality. It’s a thrill we have so many distributors onboard, believing in its core values and trusting that it can resonate across borders,” said sales executive Alexandra Cruz.
“We hope that all who watch the film will leave the cinemas with [feelings of] warmth and hope.”
Directed by Filip Pošivač, “Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light” world-premiered at Annecy, where it was awarded the Contrechamp Jury Award.
Produced by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková for nutprodukce and Jakub Viktorín for nutprodukcia,...
LevelK’s Czech stop-motion animation has sold to over 40 territories, including Germany (Eksystent Distribution), France (Eurozoom /Panoranime), Spain (MODIband Projectes Culturals), Italy (Just Wanted), Portugal (Film4you), Israel (New Cinema), Slovenia (Demiurg), Mena (Empire Networks), Switzerland (Out-side the Box), Estonia (Estin Film) Sweden (Njutafilms) and Denmark (Angel Distribution).
“From the first moment we watched it, we saw its uniqueness and quality. It’s a thrill we have so many distributors onboard, believing in its core values and trusting that it can resonate across borders,” said sales executive Alexandra Cruz.
“We hope that all who watch the film will leave the cinemas with [feelings of] warmth and hope.”
Directed by Filip Pošivač, “Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light” world-premiered at Annecy, where it was awarded the Contrechamp Jury Award.
Produced by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková for nutprodukce and Jakub Viktorín for nutprodukcia,...
- 10/13/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Danish sales agent LevelK has fallen for stop-motion animation “Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light”, set to premiere in Annecy’s feature film Contrechamp competition in June.
Directed by Filip Pošivač and written by Jana Šrámková, the film is produced by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková and Jakub Viktorín for nutprodukce (Czech Republic) and nutprodukcia (Slovakia), with Hungary’s Filmfabriq, Česká televize and Rtvs – Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska also on board.
“I believe we are creating a film which, on one side, can be entertaining for the whole family, but it can also motivate the upcoming generation of viewers to be more open to different art genres. And, most importantly, to be open to diversity and tolerance in our society,” says Viktorín, also behind Oscar submission “Victim.”
“We are super happy that LevelK joined us on this journey to share this work with audiences all around the world.”
“With its inspirational story...
Directed by Filip Pošivač and written by Jana Šrámková, the film is produced by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková and Jakub Viktorín for nutprodukce (Czech Republic) and nutprodukcia (Slovakia), with Hungary’s Filmfabriq, Česká televize and Rtvs – Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska also on board.
“I believe we are creating a film which, on one side, can be entertaining for the whole family, but it can also motivate the upcoming generation of viewers to be more open to different art genres. And, most importantly, to be open to diversity and tolerance in our society,” says Viktorín, also behind Oscar submission “Victim.”
“We are super happy that LevelK joined us on this journey to share this work with audiences all around the world.”
“With its inspirational story...
- 5/8/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Inopia Films has boarded Michal Blaško’s “Victim,” Slovakia’s Oscar submission heading to Cairo Film Festival after previous showings at Venice and Toronto. Berlin-based Pluto Film is handling sales.
The film has already secured theatrical distribution in its co-production territories, Czech and Slovak Republic (Bonton) and Germany (Rapid Eye Movies).
“We are currently concentrating on the Oscar campaign while securing U.S. theatrical distribution,” Pluto’s managing director Benjamin Cölle tells Variety. Other big territories are in negotiation.
Blaško’s feature debut shows a single mother from Ukraine, Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), who lives in a Czech town with her son (Gleb Kuchuk). When he gets injured, she decides to speak up. Soon, many condemn their Roma neighbors, allegedly responsible for the assault. But there is more to the story.
“Victim” (Courtesy of Adam Mach)
“Victim” won’t mark the end of the collaboration between the Bratislava-born helmer and screenwriter Jakub Medvecký,...
The film has already secured theatrical distribution in its co-production territories, Czech and Slovak Republic (Bonton) and Germany (Rapid Eye Movies).
“We are currently concentrating on the Oscar campaign while securing U.S. theatrical distribution,” Pluto’s managing director Benjamin Cölle tells Variety. Other big territories are in negotiation.
Blaško’s feature debut shows a single mother from Ukraine, Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), who lives in a Czech town with her son (Gleb Kuchuk). When he gets injured, she decides to speak up. Soon, many condemn their Roma neighbors, allegedly responsible for the assault. But there is more to the story.
“Victim” (Courtesy of Adam Mach)
“Victim” won’t mark the end of the collaboration between the Bratislava-born helmer and screenwriter Jakub Medvecký,...
- 11/16/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has acquired Michal Blaško’s suspense drama “Victim,” about a woman seeking justice in a racist society, ahead of its world premiere in Venice’s competitive Horizons strand.
The Slovak-Czech-German coproduction tells the story of Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), a single mother from Ukraine living in a town in the Czech Republic. When her son Igor (Gleb Kuchuk) is attacked, the whole town stands in solidarity with her family and condemns their Roma neighbors, who allegedly committed the crime. After her son wakes up in hospital, truth and lies become difficult to tell apart, which in turn leads to a personal crisis.
Blaško states: “’Victim’ tells a story about trust between Irina and Igor, a mother and son living in a foreign country, where they are left to their own devices. My aim was to paint an emotional portrait of Irina and use it to expose...
The Slovak-Czech-German coproduction tells the story of Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), a single mother from Ukraine living in a town in the Czech Republic. When her son Igor (Gleb Kuchuk) is attacked, the whole town stands in solidarity with her family and condemns their Roma neighbors, who allegedly committed the crime. After her son wakes up in hospital, truth and lies become difficult to tell apart, which in turn leads to a personal crisis.
Blaško states: “’Victim’ tells a story about trust between Irina and Igor, a mother and son living in a foreign country, where they are left to their own devices. My aim was to paint an emotional portrait of Irina and use it to expose...
- 7/26/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled nine winners across its three works in progress programmes.
Karlovy Vary’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled nine winners across its three works in progress programmes: Works In Progress; Works in Development – Feature Launch; and First Cut+. The event took place online this year from July 28-August 12.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Among the winners were Victim, from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany, directed by Michal Blaško and produced by Jakub Viktorín and Pavla Janoušková Kubečková, which will follow a Ukrainian woman in a small Czech town fighting for justice...
Karlovy Vary’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled nine winners across its three works in progress programmes: Works In Progress; Works in Development – Feature Launch; and First Cut+. The event took place online this year from July 28-August 12.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Among the winners were Victim, from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany, directed by Michal Blaško and produced by Jakub Viktorín and Pavla Janoušková Kubečková, which will follow a Ukrainian woman in a small Czech town fighting for justice...
- 8/17/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Innovative, diverse and personal stories won the awards of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry program on Monday, taking honors in three sections focused on emerging filmmakers in both narrative and docu genres.
Karlovy Vary industry head Hugo Rosak said the decision by Eastern Promises to allow fiction and non-fiction films to compete alongside each other – a new approach that parallels the fest’s newly reformatted main competition category – is based on the premise that “both categories, despite their differences, possess the same artistic value.”
Jurors from a host of film biz and development organizations gave the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award, which funds services at Prague’s Upp post house and Soundsquare studio to Iranian-French film “An Owl, a Garden and the Writer,” directed by Sara Dolatabadi, and produced by Dolatabadi, Amir Naderi and Farhad Mohammadi.
The film focuses on the “poetic revelation of one...
Karlovy Vary industry head Hugo Rosak said the decision by Eastern Promises to allow fiction and non-fiction films to compete alongside each other – a new approach that parallels the fest’s newly reformatted main competition category – is based on the premise that “both categories, despite their differences, possess the same artistic value.”
Jurors from a host of film biz and development organizations gave the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award, which funds services at Prague’s Upp post house and Soundsquare studio to Iranian-French film “An Owl, a Garden and the Writer,” directed by Sara Dolatabadi, and produced by Dolatabadi, Amir Naderi and Farhad Mohammadi.
The film focuses on the “poetic revelation of one...
- 8/16/2021
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
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