Oscars: Slovakia Selects Drama About Far-Right Youth ‘Let There Be Light’ as Entry

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Marko Škop ‘s sophomore fiction feature “ Let There Be Light ” has been selected as Slovakia’s candidate for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the best international feature film category.

The Slovak/Czech co-production had its world premiere in the main competition section at Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, where it won the best actor award for Milan Ondrík.

The film centers on 40-year-old Milan, who has a wife and three children living in Slovakia, while he lives in Germany working in the construction industry in order to provide for his family. While he is home over Christmas he discovers that his eldest son Adam is a member of a para-military youth group, and is involved in the death of a class-mate. The father has to decide what to do. In the process, along with his wife, he comes to discover the real truth about their son, their family, themselves and the community around them.

The film is a co-production of Artileria in Slovakia – headed by Škop and Ján Meliš, and Negativ in Czech Republic – led by Petr Oukropec and Pavel Strnad. Co-production partners are Rádio a Televízia Slovenska and Czech Television.

Financial support for the production was provided by Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Czech State Cinema Fund and Eurimages. World sales is handled by Loco Films.

Škop’s previous films include 2006 documentary “Other Worlds,” winner of the audience award and special jury mention at Karlovy Vary and the Talent Dove prize at Dok-Leipzig; 2009 documentary “Osadné,” winner of the best documentary award at Karlovy Vary; and 2015 fiction feature “Eva Nová, which won the Fipresci Prize at the Toronto Film Festival.