East of the West - Competition 2013 / Zázrak / Slovak Republic, Czech Republic 2013
Fifteen-year-old Ela finds herself in a correctional facility. The girls who end up here have often had much bleaker experiences than many adults, but their dreams and desires aren’t all that different.... After his multi-award-winning documentary Blind Loves, director Juraj Lehotský returns to the screen with a socially perceptive film, whose strength lies both in its story, inspired by a real person, and in the totally natural performance of the actress who plays Ela.
Fifteen-year-old Ela has entered a detention facility following a series of conflicts with her mother. Many of the other girls living there have experienced more misery than some adults – truancy, running away, drugs and prostitution. Before arriving at the correctional centre, Ela was in a relationship with 30-year-old Roby, and she remains deeply in love with him. She imagines them sharing a future together, and she is determined to do what it takes to make it a reality.... Director Juraj Lehotský took inspiration for this social drama from the story of a girl he once met. As he says, the aim of the film was "to see her life the way it is. To live her life with her little secret, in all its simplicity and ordinariness.” He adds: "I wanted to be close to her.” Michaela Bendulová’s entirely natural performance in the role of Ela demonstrably enhances the film’s veracity; the director discovered the young actress in a detention facility after a search lasting nearly two years.
78 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Juraj Lehotský
/ Screenplay Juraj Lehotský, Marek Leščák
/ Dir. of Photography Noro Hudec
/ Music Martin Burlas
/ Editor Marek Šulík
/ Producer Marko Škop, Ján Meliš
/ Production Artileria
/ Cast Michaela Bendulová, Robert Roth, Katarína Feldeková
/ Contact Artileria, s.r.o., Aerofilms
/ Distributor Aerofilms
www: www.zazrakfilm.com
Juraj Lehotský (b. 1975, Bratislava) graduated in photography from an applied arts secondary school (1994) and in documentary film direction from the Academy of Performing Arts, both in Bratislava (2000). He shot the short documentaries The Quiet World of Jožka Baláž (1995), We’ll Perform, We’ll Graduate (1996), A Funeral Is Actually a Premiere (1997), Unwanted Children (1998), Twins (1999), I Didn’t Know I’d Love You So Much (2000) and Interview (2001). His first feature-length film, the documentary Blind Loves (2008), premiered in 2009 in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes IFF and was subsequently screened and awarded at a number of other international film festivals. That same year, Karlovy Vary accepted the film in its documentary competition. Miracle is the director’s feature debut.
Artileria, s.r.o.
Drobného 23, 841 01, Bratislava
Slovakia
E-mail: [email protected]
Aerofilms
Milady Horákové 383/79, 170 00, Praha 7
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 947 566
E-mail: [email protected]
Marko Škop
Film Director, Producer
Ján Meliš
Producer
Juraj Lehotský
Film Director
Marek Leščák
Screenwriter
Michaela Bendulová
Actress
Richard Komárek
Other
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