Fire Mountain
If you stuff your dirty underwear into a Persil canister, sprinkle it with a handful of washing powder and give it a bit of a shake, you get similar results to using a washing machine. With a little bit of skill, you can use a streetlamp to charge your mobile phone. And a blue IKEA bag is all you need to make some money every now and then: just start your walk around the district in the morning and make sure to stuff it with piles of paper before getting to the collection centre...That is just some of the knowledge that the narrator of FM has gained over many years of intensive contact with people referred to as homeless by the majority society. What’s much more important is what has happened in his head – and it is into this vigorous mental transformation which makes words such as law, order, and system lose their meaning, that the narrator tries to invite the audience of the full-length documentary. The narrator ,who is also the author of the film, brings the audience to FM, a legendary place today that used to be situated a short way from the former Žižkov freight station. Hidden from the eyes of the public, it became a home for homeless people even before the tracks got overgrown by grass. Over the years, dozens of people moved in and out. Right from the beginning, the audience sees the author as someone who has one foot outside the system, just like people from FM. From the narrator’s voice-over we learn that it is mainly his experience with graffiti that enables him to read the code of the city differently than others. The author presents the audience with tangles of singed cables, stuffed animals stuck in tree branches, or a railway track cut by a torch, thus creating a strong visual experience. However, the author doesn’t find his experience with graffiti and balancing on the edge of the law to be enough. To be able to truly understand life at FM, he steps out of the comfort zone of an established artist and moves to the street for a few weeks.
Ms. President
What challenges must a gentle, level-headed and progressive woman face when she assumes the presidency of a country with a post-socialist legacy and a long history of male rule?
In 2018, Slovak society was deeply shaken by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. This unprecedented event exposed corrupt Slovak politicians and officials working hand in hand with local oligarchs and mafia structures behind the scenes. The Slovak people reacted with justified anger. For a brief period, a wave of social activism emerged, uniting an otherwise divided society, rekindling people's desire for the rule of law and sparking their interest in politics. To date, more than 30 high-ranking officials have been charged with corruption and abuse of office, including former and current politicians, judges, law enforcement and tax officials, even figures such as the former police chief, chief prosecutor and governor of the central bank. It was in these turbulent circumstances that Zuzana Čaputová entered political life. A lawyer with a long history of civic activism, she made a name for herself fighting for environmental protection. A woman guided by a strong moral compass, influenced by Eastern philosophy and a desire for change, she decided to run for president of Slovakia. And in a conservative, male-dominated environment, she won by a landslide.
Ms President is a time-lapse documentary filmed over the course of five years, following Zuzana Čaputová's time in office. It captures her role as head of state and her role as partner and mother in her private life. We are with her as she decides on social events at the local and global level. She negotiates, writes speeches and faces pandemics. At the same time, she faces the problems of a divided Slovak society. She asks the question: How can I be the president of all citizens?
In 2018, Slovak society was deeply shaken by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. This unprecedented event exposed corrupt Slovak politicians and officials working hand in hand with local oligarchs and mafia structures behind the scenes. The Slovak people reacted with justified anger. For a brief period, a wave of social activism emerged, uniting an otherwise divided society, rekindling people's desire for the rule of law and sparking their interest in politics. To date, more than 30 high-ranking officials have been charged with corruption and abuse of office, including former and current politicians, judges, law enforcement and tax officials, even figures such as the former police chief, chief prosecutor and governor of the central bank. It was in these turbulent circumstances that Zuzana Čaputová entered political life. A lawyer with a long history of civic activism, she made a name for herself fighting for environmental protection. A woman guided by a strong moral compass, influenced by Eastern philosophy and a desire for change, she decided to run for president of Slovakia. And in a conservative, male-dominated environment, she won by a landslide.
Ms President is a time-lapse documentary filmed over the course of five years, following Zuzana Čaputová's time in office. It captures her role as head of state and her role as partner and mother in her private life. We are with her as she decides on social events at the local and global level. She negotiates, writes speeches and faces pandemics. At the same time, she faces the problems of a divided Slovak society. She asks the question: How can I be the president of all citizens?