Servants

Služobníci

61st TIFF: Greek premiere

1980, communist Czechoslovakia. Mihal and Juraj are two seminarians entangled in a nightmarish web of faith and politics, as the regime is making sure that Catholic clergymen fall into line. Their tutors probe their allegiance to the party, frowning upon the slightest hint of individual thinking by students, but subversion is bubbling beneath the façade of compliance. A noir-tinted political thriller of stifling ambiance, a story of defiance that rebukes ideological manipulation.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Ivan Ostrochovský

Script: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Leščák, Ivan Ostrochovský

Cinematography: Juraj Chlpík

Editing: Jan Daňhel, Martin Malo, Maroš Šlapeta

Sound: Tobiáš Potočný

Music: Miroslav Tóth, Cristian Lolea

Actors: Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovič, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko, Milan Mikulčík, Tomáš Turek

Production: Punkchart films

Producers: Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský, Katarína Tomková

Co-producers: Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu, Tudor Giurgiu, Ivana Kurincová, Petr Oukropec, Pavel Strnad, Sam Taylor, Mike Downey, Marek Urban

Format: DCP

Color: B&W

Production Country: Slovak Republic, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland

Production Year: 2020

Duration: 80'

Contact: Loco Films

Awards/Distinctions: Special Jury Mention – Odesa IFF 2020

Ivan Ostrochovský

The Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovsky was born in 1972 in Zilina. After several documentary shorts and series, Ivan directed his feature documentary debut Velvet Terrorists (2013), which premiered at Berlinale 2014, where it won the Tagesspiegel Readers’ Award. Ivan’s feature debut Koza (2015) celebrated its world premiere at Berlinale 2015. It was selected by the festival director to be a nominee for the Best First Feature award. It was also shortlisted for the 2015 European Film Awards and was the Slovak Oscar entry for 2016. Ivan is also the co-writer of Censor, the latest project by Péter Kerekes which was presented in the Works in Progress sections of Karlovy Vary IFF and Odessa IFF, winning awards for best project at both. His latest film Servants (2020) is presented in a World Premiere in the brand-new Berlinale competition section Encounters. He is also a co-owner and producer at sentimentalfilm and Punkchart films.