The Lumière Festival in Lyon (15 – 23 October 2022) is one of the largest and most respected international festivals of the classic film. Slovak cinema in this year’s program will be represented by Martin Hollý’s digitally restored film A Case for the Defence Attorney (1964). This is the fifth digitally restored film from the collections of the National Film Archive of the SFI that festival has selected for its program.
The Festival has designated a label to support restored works, whether they are classics or lesser-known films. It presents a selection of the year’s finest restorations, previously unscreened, in two specific sections: Lumière Classics and Treasures & Curiosities. The latter reminds us of the importance of immersing ourselves in cinematographic territories that are often unfamiliar and yet indispensable.which highlights the little-known and yet indispensable films as A Case for the Defence Attorney.
The film A Case for the Defence Attorney is a psychological drama from the judiciary environment. A defence attorney deals with the case of rape and murder of a fourteen-year-old girl and, based on discrepancies in the court file, tries to get the fifteen-year-old boy out of suspicion and the subsequent conviction. “A timeless film takes a closer look at evil of any political system, system which rules by sheer brute force. If the characters in the film did not address each other ‘comrade’ from time to time, the viewer would not notice that the story takes place in socialist Czechoslovakia,” comments Rastislav Steranka, the director of the SFI’s National Cinematographic Centre.
The selection of a film for the Lumière Festival program is always a great chance for the archive institutions to bring back the attention for some of their classic films. A Case for the Defence Attorney is the fifth Slovak digitally restored film to be presented at the festival. Since 2017, the festival introduced a feature animated film The Bloody Lady (1980) by Viktor Kubal, a tragicomedy The Barnabáš Kos Case (1964) by Peter Solan, Wild Lilies (1972) by Elo Havetta and the latest was also Hollý’s film – Night Riders (1981).
The 10th edition of the Marché International du Film Classique (October 18-21, 2022) is also taking place as part of the festival. Rastislav Steranka, director of the SFÚ National Cinematography Center, will represent us on October 19 in the Experience Sharing panel.
Screenings:
19 October / 11:15 / Institut Lumière
20 October / 19:45 / Cinéma Opéra
Web:
http://www.festival-lumiere.org/en/
Related articles:
Night Riders are heading to Lyon
Digitally restored Wild Lilies at Lumière Festival 2019
Viktor Kubal Retrospective in Sitges and The Barnabáš Kos Case in Lyon
Digitally restored animated film Bloody Lady at Lumière festival 2017
