Here We Are

Colour, 35 mm
Slovak Republic, 2005, 76 min
WP – World premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition
Oficiální stránky: www.myzdes.com

Synopsis

After the Second World War, the Krmáč family moved from central Slovakia to Ruthenia (Carpathian Ukraine). After the area was annexed by the USSR, they were forcibly removed to the village of Balgarka on the Kazakh steppe; there they lived for more than forty years. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the family decides to return to Slovakia. Sisters Tanya and Anna, along with the latter?s husband Dimitri and their kids, embark on a journey to a land they know only through the stories their parents told them. Dimitri is the central character in this documentary, a guide mediating between the family and the filmmakers. Mainly through his eyes does the viewer perceive this Kazakh family?s odyssey around Slovakia, and their almost hopeless search for the minimum decent requirements that make life bearable. Dimitri?s natural rapport with the movie camera and the disarming directness with which he comments on their difficult journey through contemporary Slovakia are just two of the many appealing qualities director Jaro Vojtek brought to his noteworthy documentary on the encounter of two cultures.

About the director

Jaroslav Vojtek (b. 1968, Žilina, Slovakia) graduated in documentary direction from Bratislava’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts (VŠMU). He debuted in 1993 with the short documentary Blind Faith (Slepá viera), a portrait of a gravedigger loyal to socialist ideals. The short film Dreamers (1999) was his contribution to the feature-length project The Magnificent Six (2000), screened at Karlovy Vary. Selected filmography: Hair II (1995), She Didn’t Recognize Me or I Her... (1996), Once Upon a Time in the East (2000), The Aquarium (2001), Silly Billy (2003). He is currently working on a featurelength documentary entitled The Border.