Katarína Gramatová entered the film world as an editor. While studying film editing at VŠMU, she received a special Jury Award at the Zlín Film Festival for her short directorial debut Cherries (2019). With her graduation film A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places (2023), she now made it to the top ten of Future Frames: Generation NEXT of European Cinema. At the same time, she is currently finishing her feature debut Promise I´ll Be Fine. Katarína works on socially difficult topics with the help of filming techniques and subtle humor.
Adam is a 12-year-old woodcutter from the so-called hunger valley (a poverty-stricken region with limited infrastructure, job availability and opportunities), who fights against stereotypes in the village, denies his origin and tries to show that he is the exact opposite of how his friends see Roma people. How did you find your protagonist?
Adam is part of a group of non-actor boys who appear in my feature debut. I found these boys while scouting the hunger valleys in Slovakia. Adam was 11 years old at the time and became our main link in the village; he knew everyone and everything. Unlike the older guys in the group, who had a big problem with eye contact and communicating with me, Adam was very talkative right from the start.
Both films are shot in Utekáč. What is the link between these two films?
These are two different films. Due to the writing of a full-length script for non-actors from this village, I moved to Utekáč for a certain period of time and tried to get as close to the boys as possible. In addition to building a friendship, I tried to get them used to the presence of a camera, so I started filming all our moments together on a hand-cam. I then used this material as an inspiration for writing the script. When I went through it, my editor’s eye immediately caught that there was another story hidden there. So two completely different stories appeared in my head. A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places was created from this material.
Is it comfortable for you to handle everything yourself—writing, directing, filming, and editing your films?
No, being the editor of your own project is definitely not comfortable. But A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places is a very specific project. From creating the script, through filming, to editing and creating the voiceover, the entire film was produced in Utekáč. When I was editing it in the house where I lived there, if I found out that I was missing a shot, I went out and finished filming what I was missing. Sometimes, Adam would come over and we would have fun all day inventing a voiceover. The production of this project is the most sincere and beautiful thing I have ever worked on; any success with the audience is just a bonus.
I also consulted with my cameraman Tomáš Kotas about handling the camera work myself, and we came to the conclusion that a hand-held camera fits this project and gives me the freedom to be alone with the boys without any restrictions. For the full-length film, however, I decided that I needed a partner for editing, so Aleš Valtr joined me.
Do you have some specific expectations from participating in Future Frames?
I’m really looking forward to this program,especially getting to know the other creators. There are very talented people in the program with a huge passion for creating. But this also brings many complicated situations and it will be wonderful to exchange our experiences and approaches to creation. At the moment, I am enjoying the films reaching the audience. The three years I spent in the village of Utekáč preparing these films had a very significant impact on me and the children we filmed with. For now, I decided to participate in an educational program for children from these disadvantaged areas and devote myself to them in this way. Of course, the distribution of the films and the premiere await us, which we, along with the boys and the entire crew, are very much looking forward to.
A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places
Future Frames: Generation NEXT of European Cinema
Screening:
July 1 | 15:00 | Small Hall
