Art Film Fest

The very first festival was dedicated to films focused on the baroque period, as 1992 had been the International Year of the Baroque. It resulted in many films being made on this subject. In the reaction to the break-up of Czechoslovakia, the organisers decided to create a retrospective of documentary film work throughout the Czechoslovak era. The first edition star guest was British avant-garde filmmaker Peter Greenaway.

The first year of the festival

As time went on, the organisers became increasingly aware that limiting the festival to documentaries was an unnecessary constraint, and they consequently widened its scope. In 1995 the festival achieved the first major milestone: its focus shifted to a presentation of films concerning art and artists. 1995 was also the year when the first Actor’s Mission Award was bestowed, to Italian actor Franco Nero.

The first handed award of the festival. The winner Franco Nero

The Competition of Feature Films was introduced into the programme in 1997, as was the expansion of festival screenings to the city of Trenčín.

Artfilm began awarding a variety of Slovak and international film professionals with the Golden Camera for their notable contributions to the filmmaking craft. The award has been received by more than 36 renowned cinema figures, with Roman Polanski, Jean-Claude Carriére, Emir Kusturica, Ettore Scola, Andrei Konchalovsky, Ulrich Seidl, Andrzej Wajda, Martin Hollý, Juraj Jakubisko, Dušan Hanák and many others among them.

Artfilm began to define itself as a festival of film artistry, and since then it has focused on feature films from around the world. 2002 also saw the arrival of the popular open-air cinema known as the Čadík Brothers’ Travelling Cinematograph.

Celebration of 15-year anniversary, having accumulated 105 total festival days and screened over 1500 feature, medium-length and short films, as well as animated, documentary and experimental works.

The new programme director was announced, Peter Nágel, and also Artfilm changed its name to Art Film Fest. This was accompanied by a marked revival of audience interest, with the festival attracting roughly 24 000 fans.

After 23 years, Art Film Fest is changing the location. The festival moved to the second biggest city in Slovakia, Košice. The reasons for moving the festival to the much bigger city was festival’s excellent future prospects warrant improved conditions for further development, primarily more convenient, comfortable and varied cinema infrastructure and other essential venues that, in combination, will meet the modern standards of an international film festival.