drama, mystery, horror – received Pardo D’oro for best film in Concorso Cineasti del Presente at Locarno Film Festival
next screenings: À l’Est Film Festival in Rouen (France), Glasgow Film Festival (UK Premiere), Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (Belgium), Sydney Film Festival (Australia)
A young woman returns to her native mountain village, searching for answers about her troubled childhood, but as she tries to uncover the truth, ancient legends begin to invade modern reality, leading the villagers to accuse her of witchcraft and murder.
Nightsiren addresses the resurgence of ancient beliefs in modern day Slovakia and how issues , such as misogyny, xenophobia, and mass hysteria still prevail in our modern world and tells the story of what it takes to be free when we choose to step off the beaten path.
“The new Slovakian horror film Svetlonoc (Nightsiren) is crafted by filmmaker Tereza Nvotova with tremendous, skillful craftsmanship. ” Film Review
“Halfway between a genre film and an uncompromising account of violence handed down from father to son like an incurable virus, Nightsiren demonstrates how important it is to be able to live our lives freely, outside of social conventions. ” Cineuropa
“Nvotova has created something unique: a feature with the breath of an epic that soars relentlessly in an all-out journey to the stars and beyond.” Filmuforia
“Nightsiren succeeds on almost every level. It comes up against the classic horror tropes of sexual purity and mystical minority groups and fights back to varying degrees to give us something different.” Universal Cinema
“A powerful and visually stunning modern tale that seeks to dispel outdated myths surrounding femininity, imposing on the viewer a story that demonstrates how ancient misogynistic superstitions are resurfacing in the modern world.” C7nema
“Featuring elements of supernatural suspense, thriller, horror, and dark fable, Nightsiren is a genre-driven drama. In this film, modern cinematic language does not only refer to sophisticated genre craftsmanship, but also to a sort of millennial aesthetics. In one memorable scene, Witches Sabbath transforms a Midsummer Night’s rave, reviving old tropes of witchcraft in a local rendition of Satanic Panic.” ScreenAnrachy
PROJECT DETAILS:
DIRECTOR Tereza Nvotova
WRITER Barbora Namerova, Tereza Nvotova
DOP Federico Cesca
MUSIC Pjoni, Rob
EDITING Pavel Hrdlička, Thibault Hague
PRODUCED BY BFILM, moloko film, RTVS
CAST Natalia Germani, Eva Mores, Iva Bittova, Juliana Brutovska, Jana Olhova, Noel Czucor, Marek Geisberg, Zuzana Konecna, Matus Rysan
AWARDS:
Pardo D’oro for best film, Concorso Cineasti del Presente, Locarno Film Festival
Sitges – Méliès d’Argent Award: Best Fantastic Genre European Feature Film
Trilobite Award organized by the Czech Film and Television Association 2023
Eurimages Development Award 2018
Supported by Eurimages
Supported by Slovak Audiovisual Fund AVF and Czech Film Fund CFF.
Nightsiren was developed at Scripteast lab.
It is presented at co-production forums MIA in Rome and AGORA CROSSROADS in Thessaloniki at TIFF59 and Frontières Finance & Packaging Forum.
PRESS links:
C7nema (Portuguese)
noescinetodoloquereluce review (Spanish)
FESTIVALS:
Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland)
Fantastic Fest (USA)
Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada)
The Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Spain)
Cairo International Film festival (Egypt)
Denver International Film Festival (USA)
International Film Festival of India
Cork Intenrational Film Festival (Ireland)
Stockholm International Film Festival (Sweden)
Gijon International Film Festival (Spain)
AFI European Union Film Showcase (USA)
Cottbus International Film Festival (Germany)
Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece)
Kolkata International Film Festival (India)
Oostende Film Festival (Belgium)
Transit filmfest Regensburg (Germany)
Festival de Cine por Mujeres (Spain)
Motel X – Lisbon Horror Film Festival (Portugal)
Splat! Film Festival (Poland)
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival (Brasil)
Cuenca International Film Festival (Ecuador)
Central and Eastern European FF (Luxembourg)
Finále Plzeň Film Festival (Czech Republic)