Slovak Oscar Entry ‘Victim’ Boarded by Spain’s Inopia Films, Director Michal Blasko Saddles Up With ‘Cowgirl’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Spain’s Inopia Films has boarded Michal Blaško’s “Victim,” Slovakia’s Oscar submission heading to Cairo Film Festival after previous showings at Venice and Toronto. Berlin-based Pluto Film is handling sales.
The film has already secured theatrical distribution in its co-production territories, Czech Republic (Bontonfilm), Slovak Republic (Continental Film) and Germany (Rapid Eye Movies).
More from Variety
Béla Tarr Urges Students to Be Free, Stop Complaining: 'It's Not Education. It's Liberation'
Finding Common Cause (and Rhythms) in Sherief Elkatsha's Music Documentary 'Far From the Nile'
“We are currently concentrating on the Oscar campaign while securing U.S. theatrical distribution,” Pluto’s managing director Benjamin Cölle tells Variety. Other big territories are in negotiation.
Blaško’s feature debut shows a single mother from Ukraine, Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), who lives in a Czech town with her son (Gleb Kuchuk). When he gets injured, she decides to speak up. Soon, many condemn their Roma neighbors, allegedly responsible for the assault. But there is more to the story.
“Victim” won’t mark the end of the collaboration between the Bratislava-born helmer and screenwriter Jakub Medvecký, with the duo already developing “Cowgirl,” set in Slovakia’s Orava region.
Taking on the dirty secrets of agricultural mafia, the film will be shot in 2024, with Jakub Viktorín (Nutprodukcia) back on board after “Victim,” which he produced with Pavla Janoušková Kubečková, co-founder of its sister company Nutprodukce.
“It’s a coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl who discovers that her father, and the whole idyllic world around her, is different from what she initially thought,” says Medvecký.
“She needs to decide whether she should rebel against all these old structures or not.”
“In Slovakia, there were many cases like that: people would bully farmers and receive money from the European Union, claiming it was their land. This has been going on for a long time, it was tolerated by the politicians and has only changed a couple of years ago,” adds Blaško.
But the story will be more personal than political, he states. Focusing on its young protagonist, suddenly noticing all the suffering she previously ignored, and playing with Western mythos.
“It’s funny, because people who live there really do wear cowboy hats. It was interesting to us, also because it’s so different from ‘Victim.’ It has a strong female lead too, but she is still a child. She makes many mistakes,” he says.
She also practices “cutting,” which involves a horse and a rider separating one cow from the herd.
“All these ideas come directly from my family: we actually have these traditions. Still, we don’t want it to ‘scream’ Western. We really want this realistic feel,” says Medvecký.
“Victim,” too, is inspired by true stories.
“We saw how similar cases can be used by the politicians or dissected on social media later on. After that, people can’t really protect themselves anymore. We follow Irina, we understand why she is frustrated. And when she finally learns the truth, we understand why she can’t go back,” notes Blaško.
Medvecký adds: “At first, these characters were supposed to be Czech. But Tomáš Hrubý [of Nutprodukce] made us rethink that, which ultimately created this weird situation where one minority claims to be hurt by another, and the Czech majority is there to judge.”
Blaško will also write and direct upcoming Nutprodukcia project “Guilt,” about another immigrant family. This time, forced to reconsider their future over the course of one night after a young boy confesses to his parents that he and his friends have hurt someone.
“Just like in ‘Victim,’ the main characters are immigrants living in a foreign country. The situation they find themselves in is therefore very particular. It threatens to bring about consequences that would not arise in any other circumstances,” he says.
“It’s a character study that forces the audience to decide whose side they are on. Leading them to the conclusion that determining one’s guilt, and coming up with appropriate punishment, is far from easy.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
