The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival is one of the most important events in the field of short filmmaking worldwide. At its current 48th edition, Slovak cinema will also be represented by two films, one of which will compete for the jury’s favor in the festival’s main competition. As is tradition, the Short Film Market will include a presentation stand dedicated to Slovak cinema. The Clermont-Ferrand festival will begin on Friday, January 30, and run until Saturday, February 7.
Slovakia will be represented in the festival’s International Competition by the animated film Tourists, directed by Mária Kralovič. Its main characters are Hana and Kornel, both in their fifties, who are repairing hiking trail markers in the forest. They are both aware that their relationship has stagnated, but only when they become frightened, lonely, and helplessly lost in the forest do they have to discover within themselves the ability to survive. “The film, while still in development, was already presented at the festival program in 2021, when it represented Slovakia at the Euro Connection co-production forum, which is part of the Short Film Market for film professionals,” explains Barbara Nováková from the National Cinematographic Centre of the Slovak Film Institute.
Tourists will be presented at the festival in its world premiere and will compete for the jury’s favor alongside 63 other films from around the world. The organizers describe this year’s international competition selection by saying that “everyone will find something for themselves. Comedies, genre films, thrillers, romantic films, social commentaries, gripping detective stories, and sometimes a bit of everything at once. The competition films, which tell stories and sometimes history, move between wide open spaces and intimate confrontations, between promising beginnings and difficult endings, between unexpected bursts of laughter and tears in the eyes.”
In the festival section Panorama: Holidays, the Slovak animated film Hello Summer (2024) by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová will be screened. It is a short, playful, and visually striking film about a family vacation that does not go according to plan. Despite all the complications, the film conveys the message that family comes above all else. “Hello Summer had its world premiere at Animafest in Zagreb two years ago and has since been successfully screened at several leading festivals focused on animated films or films for young audiences. It was also shown at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it won the Young Audience Award,” adds Barbara Nováková. In Clermont-Ferrand, the film will be screened in a retrospective section together with 20 other films combining fiction, documentary, and animation from various periods and countries. Their common theme is holidays and travel.
An integral part of the Clermont-Ferrand festival is the Short Film Market, where Slovak cinema will be represented for the eighth time at the Central European Cinema presentation stand. The stand will showcase Slovak co-production films, and on this occasion a promotional leaflet titled Slovak Short Films 2025–2026 has also been published. The stand will also serve as a space for work meetings between Slovak film professionals and international partners. The presentation of Slovak cinema at the stand is organized by the Slovak Film Institute (SFI) in cooperation with the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand will take place from February 2 to February 5, 2026.
The organizer of the presentation of Slovak cinema at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market is the Slovak Film Institute, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.
Promotional leaflet for Slovak cinema: Slovak Short Films 2025 – 2026
