IFF Art Film, previously known as Artfilm and Art Film Fest, is an annual international film festival founded in TrenÃÂianske Teplice, Slovakia, in 1993, shortly after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The first event was held on 14 June 1993, under the auspices of UNESCO. It is the longest continuously running international film festival in the country. In 2016, it was relocated to Koà ¡ice, Slovakia's second-largest city. The event traditionally takes place from 14 to 22 June.
Artfilm was created in 1993 by film director Petr HledÃÂk, who has been the festival's longtime artistic director. According to HledÃÂk, at the beginning of the 1990s, the Koliba film studios in Bratislava were in decline, funding for Slovak cinematography was rapidly dwindling, and films almost stopped being made.
The first festival was held on 14 June 1993 in the spa town of TrenÃÂianske Teplice, under the auspices of UNESCO. It was dedicated to films focused on the Baroque period, as 1992 had been the International Year of the Baroque, and many films were made on the subject. In reaction to the breakup of Czechoslovakia, the festival's organisers decided to create a retrospective of documentary film work throughout the Czechoslovak era. That year, the celebrity guest of honour was British avant-garde filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and the festival drew only 200âÂÂ300 attendees.
As time went on, the organisers became increasingly aware that limiting the festival to documentaries was an unnecessary constraint, and they consequently widened its scope. In 1995, the event achieved its first major milestone: shifting focus to a presentation of films concerning art and artists. 1995 was also the year when the first Actor's Mission award was bestowed, going to Italian actor Franco Nero.
In 1997, the festival's screenings expanded to the nearby city of TrenÃÂÃÂn, and a feature film competition was introduced.
Artfilm began awarding a variety of Slovak and international film professionals with the Golden Camera award for notable contributions to the filmmaking craft. The award has been received by numerous renowned cinema figures, including Roman Polanski, Jean-Claude Carriére, Emir Kusturica, Ettore Scola, Andrei Konchalovsky, Ulrich Seidl, Andrzej Wajda, Martin Hollý, Juraj Jakubisko, and Duà ¡an Hanák.
Artfilm began to define itself as a festival of film artistry, and since then, it has focused on feature films from around the world. 2002 also saw the arrival of the open-air cinema known as the ÃÂadÃÂk Brothers' Travelling Cinematograph.
In 2005, the festival was subsumed by the production house Forza, and actor and singer Milan Lasica became its president, with HledÃÂk as vice president.
The festival celebrated its fifteen-year anniversary in 2007, having accumulated 105 total festival days and screened over 1,500 feature, medium-length, and short films, as well as animated, documentary, and experimental works.
Peter Nágel became the new program director in 2009, and the festival changed its name to Art Film Fest. This was accompanied by a marked revival of audience interest, with the event attracting roughly 25,000 visitors.
In 2016, after 23 years, Art Film Fest changed its location, moving to the second-biggest city in Slovakia, Koà ¡ice. Reasons included the festival's future prospects warranting improved conditions for further development, in the form of more convenient, comfortable, and varied cinema infrastructure, and in order to meet the modern standards of an international film festival. Events have since been held from 14 to 22 June at Koà ¡ice's Kunsthalle exhibition space, Kasárne Kulturpark, the old town hall, Kino ÃÂsmev movie theatre, the former tobacco factory of TabaÃÂka KulturfabrikâÂÂnow a cultural centre, and at Amfiteáter Koà ¡ice.
The event was not held in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, the organizers held a reduced five-day edition, and in 2022, it was cancelled once more, this time owing to a lack of funds.
IFF Art Film is the longest continuously running international film festival in Slovakia. The event traditionally takes place from 14 to 22 June and includes autograph signings, discussions, musical performances, and workshops.
Art Film Fest has several competition categories and awards. The feature film competition is evaluated by a five-member international jury, and the short film competition by a three-member international jury. Experts from various film professions are nominated in advance by the juries.
This competition is aimed at up-and-coming directorsâÂÂonly debuts or second and third films can be submitted.
This competition is not limited by genreâÂÂfeature films, documentaries, animations, and other films can be submitted.
This prize, awarded since 1995, is associated with the tradition of attaching a sign with the awardee's name to the Bridge of Fame in TrenÃÂianske Teplice.
Numerous Czech, Slovak, and international actors have received the Actor's Mission trophy since the festival's inception in 1993, including Ben Kingsley, Gérard Depardieu, Jeremy Irons, Isabelle Huppert, Geraldine Chaplin, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Erland Josephson, Jacqueline Bisset, Omar Sharif, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Vlastimil Brodský, Iva Janà ¾urová, ZdenÃÂk SvÃÂrák, Josef Abrhám, Jozef Kroner, Juraj Kukura, and Marián Labuda.
This gallery presents a sampling of Actor's Mission memorial plaques on the Bridge of Fame in TrenÃÂianske Teplice.