2024 | Slovak Republic, Czech Republic | Fiction

Ema a Smrtihlav (The Hungarian Dressmaker)

  • German, Slovak, Hungarian - 129 mins
  • Director | Iveta Grófová
  • Writer | Peter Krištúfek, Iveta Grófová
  • Producer | Zuzana Mistríková, Ondřej Trojan

STATUS: Post-Production

This film is currently not available.   

It’s the 1940s. The Slovak state witnesses the rise of nationalism and it’s not an auspicious time for minorities. The turbulent social mood also impacts the widow Marika, who loses her job in an Aryanised dressmaker’s shop. Given the increasing anti-Hungarian sentiment, she shuts herself away, particularly since she is also harbouring a little Jewish boy. Despite this, she still finds herself singled out by two men: a German Nazi officer and a captain of Slovakia’s Hlinka Guard. This drama by Slovak director Iveta Grófová is an adaptation of the novella by Peter Krištúfek, which conjures up the dramatic atmosphere of wartime Slovakia. The story of a fragmented era, which forces the protagonists to confront complex dilemmas, is told not only through words, but also by way of a powerful visual language.

Nationalism Minorities Anti-Semitism
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