Film Archive

Let There Be Light

Official Selection - Competition 2019 / Nech je svetlo / Slovak Republic, Czech Republic 2019

A Slovak village is getting ready for Christmas. Forty-year-old Milan travels from Germany where he works to be home with his family. However, the serene and festive atmosphere is unsettled by the suspicion that his son, a member of a paramilitary youth organisation, might be involved in a harrowing event that stunned the local community. This compelling drama, about the strength and fragility of family ties, examines our sense of moral responsibility in a world where xenophobia takes precedence over compassion for those closest to us.

Synopsis

A Slovak village is getting ready for Christmas. Forty-year-old, kind-hearted Milan travels from Germany where he works to be home with his family. He’s looking forward to the yearly rituals and the precious time spent with his loved ones. However, the serene and festive atmosphere is unsettled by the discovery that his eldest son is a member of a paramilitary youth organisation and one of the suspects involved in a harrowing event that stunned the local community. After a series of award-winning documentaries and his remarkable feature debut Eva Nová, Marko Škop turns in a compelling drama about the strength and fragility of family ties, our moral responsibility when traditional values are being reassessed, and xenophobia's precedence over compassion for those closest to us.

Karel Och

About the film

93 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Marko Škop / Screenplay Marko Škop / Dir. of Photography Ján Meliš / Music David Solař, Oskar Rózsa / Editor František Krähenbiel / Art Director Pavol Andraško / Producer Marko Škop, Ján Meliš, Petr Oukropec, Pavel Strnad / Production Artileria s.r.o. / Coproduction Negativ s.r.o., Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska, Česká televize / Cast Milan Ondrík, František Beleš, Zuzana Konečná, Ľubomír Paulovič, Katarína Kormaňáková, Maximilián Dušanič, Daniel Fischer, Csongor Kassai / Sales Loco Films / Distributor Asociace českých filmových klubů
www: www.artileria.sk

About the director

Marko Škop (b. 1974, Prešov, Slovakia). Selected filmography: Other Worlds (Iné svety, 2006, doc., Audience Award and Special Mention at KVIFF), Osadné (2009, doc., Best Documentary at KVIFF), Eva Nová (2015), Let There Be Light (Nech je svetlo, 2019)