It’s official: the extraordinary commitment and combined efforts of Art Film Fest and multimedia distribution company Film Europe have been crowned with a smashing success. In only a few days, visitors to the ART FILM FEST International Film Festival, running from 21 to 26 June in Trenčianske Teplice and Trenčín, will be treated to the grand-prize winner from the recent Cannes IFF: Blue is the Warmest Color.
No doubt about it – this is going to be a highly exclusive screening! Not only will it be identical to what Cannes’s audiences saw, but it is going to be the only one of its kind. The unconventional tale of love between two young women was labelled a "work in progress" at its world premiere on the French Riviera, but when it won the Palme d’Or, it was immediately decided that the film would never again be publically screened in its current form. Before its domestic cinematic release (9 October in France), it has to be adapted – in other words, shortened and edited. But thanks to the intensive negotiations of Film Europe and Art Film Fest, they have managed something incredible: AFF’s visitors will get to see the original version!
“I’m very pleased by the exclusiveness of it,” commented Art Film Fest’s director Peter Nágel, adding: “This is terrific news and a great privilege for our festival. The last few days have felt like the last hand of a poker game, when you’re waiting for that coveted ace!"
Equally delighted by the success is Film Europe’s CEO Ivan Hronec. While he had already acquired this exceptionally fine film before Cannes’s winners were announced, the subsequent decision to edit it took him by surprise as well. “Since Blue is the Warmest Color won’t be released in Slovak cinemas until 29 November, it was very difficult to acquire the exclusive Cannes version for Art Film Fest. And time was extremely short. That is one of the reasons why the film won’t even be screened at Karlovy Vary, given that the risk of it not being screened at all was truly very high.”
Thanks to the verdict from Steven Spielberg and his fellow Cannes jurors, the bold, passionate melodrama became the first picture in the history of the world’s most prestigious film festival to earn the grand prize not only for its director Abdellatif Kechiche, but for its co-stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.
This year’s Art Film Fest features a programme packed with the latest international and domestic cinema. Blue is the Warmest Color, the winner of Cannes’s Palme d’Or, is the pièce de résistance of the festival, which will be held from 21 to 26 June in Trenčianske Teplice and Trenčín.
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Art Film Fest 2013 – the 21st International Trenčianske Teplice/Trenčín Film Festival
The festival is held under the auspices of Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico.
Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., FORZA, a.s.
Co-organizers: The Town of Trenčianske Teplice, the City of Trenčín, Kúpele Trenčianske Teplice
Financial support: The Audiovisual Fund
General Sponsor: KOOPERATIVA poisťovňa, Vienna Insurance Group TIPOS
Main Sponsors: Dr. Max, SYNOT TIP, TEMPEST, SLOVNAFT, Pow-en, Slovenská elektrizačná prenosová sústava
Official Transport Provider: Hyundai
Logistics Sponsor: DHL
Student cinepasses for only €5 provided by: Prvá stavebná sporiteľňa
Sponsors: PPC Power, Slovak Telekom, AVI Studio, Barzzuz, Hydrotour travel agency, AquaCity Poprad
Official Suppliers: Anext, Moët, ad one, Toshiba, Zlatý Bažant beer, Dendra, tuli, Relax, euro Print Hall, Elesko
Main Media Sponsors: Slovak Radio and Television, Rádio FM, Pravda
Media Sponsors: Film Europe Channel, Central Europe Television, Rádio Europa 2, zoznam.sk, rozhovory.sk, Eurotelevízia, Pardon, OK!, Kam do mesta, Slovak Lines, GONG SK, SITA News Agency, BigMedia, moviemania.sk, filmneweurope.com
Sponsors: The European Commission Representation in Slovakia, the Embassy of the United States of America in Bratislava, the Trenčín Self-governing Region, the Slovak Film Institute, the Slovak Tourist Board, CzechTourism, Character – Film Development Association, the Italian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, the Embassy of Italy in Bratislava, the Polish Institute in Bratislava, in film, the Hungarian Institute in Bratislava, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain, the Swedish Embassy in Vienna, the Embassy of Finland in Bratislava, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Prague, Považský cukor, Europe’s Finest, Hotel Flóra, AutoCont, Contest, Esterle&Esterle, Kinoservis, Cinemax, lampART, Kursalon Trenčianske Teplice, spicybrown, the Bratislava Culture and Information Centre
