“The Nightsiren” (Svetlonoc, 2022), a Slovak-Czech film by Tereza Nvotova, was awarded the Golden Leopard prize for the best film in the Cineasti del presente (Contemporary cinematography) section by the jury at the Locarno film festival, according to Jiri Vanek from the Czech State Film Fund.
This is the second Golden Leopard for a Czech film in as many years. Last year, “Brotherhood” (Bratrstvi), a Czech film by director Francesco Montagnero, from Prague’s FAMU film and TV school, won in the same section, focusing on the emerging generation of filmmakers and their first and second films.
“I am so happy, I did not expect a story from a small village in the Slovak mountains to impress the international audience so much. Evidently, the problems faced by our female protagonists are not so remote from them,” said Nvotova, the director and also scriptwriter for the film, after the ceremony.
The mystery-drama depicts the revolt of a woman against a deeply rooted collective tradition that demonises and disgraces her. The protagonist, Sarlota, returns to her native village to find answers to some questions left behind from her turbulent childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, old legends start penetrating her reality, lead to her being accused of witchcraft and murder by the villagers.
The film stars Natalia Germani, Eva Mores, Juliana Brutovska, Iva Bittova and Marek Geisberg.
The Nightsiren is the second feature film by Nvotova; her debut “Filthy” (Spina) was a drama about a rape and the woman’s revolt against the rapist, presented at the Rotterdam festival in 2017 and well-received by Czech film critics.
