Film Archive

Made in Ash

East of the West - Competition 2012 / Až do mesta Aš / Slovak Republic, Czech Republic 2012

This noteworthy social drama from young Slovak director Iveta Grófová concerns a Romany girl named Dorota, who leaves her native Slovakia after graduating from high school for a job in the Western Bohemian town of Aš. Thanks to authentic shots and the use of nonactors, the director achieves marked rawness and maximum punch.

Synopsis

A Romany girl named Dorota has just graduated from high school and she’s eager for life to begin. In Eastern Slovakia where she lives, however, happiness is not just waiting around the corner. So with a heavy heart she bids farewell to her boyfriend and, like so many others from her region, heads for work in the Western Bohemian town of Aš. The small border town with its Czech-German textile factory has become the hope of scores of Slovaks and Ukrainians looking for a better livelihood. But beyond the wages, such as they are, Aš can only promise her assembly line drudgery, long shifts, and unappealing accommodations. Like her peers, Dorota just wants to have fun and enjoy life a little.… Young Slovak documentarist Iveta Grófová chose a strong social topic as the basis of her noteworthy feature debut. Thanks to authentic shots and the use of nonactors, the director achieves marked rawness and maximum punch.

About the film

84 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Iveta Grófová / Screenplay Iveta Grófová, Marek Leščák / Dir. of Photography Viera Bačíková / Music Matej Hlaváč / Editor Maroš Šlapeta / Producer Barbara Kipsová, Jiří Konečný, Ivan Ostrochovský / Production Protos Productions, endorfilm, Punkchart Films / Cast Dorotka Bílá, Silvia Halušicová, Robin Schmidt, Jarka Bučincová, Mária Bílá / Contact endorfilm

About the director

Iveta Grófová (b. 1980, Trenčín, Czechoslovakia) graduated from the Faculty of Animated Film (2004) and the Faculty of Documentary Film (2009) at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She shot the short documentaries At Least (Aspoň že tak, 2003), The Politics of Quality (Politika kvality, 2005), Goodbye Party (Nazdar partička, 2005), Guest Workers (Gastarbeiteri, 2007) and the short animated film There Were 11 of Us (Bolo nás 11, 2004). Made in Ash is her feature film debut.