The Visitors

second documentary film by Veronika Lišková
Semaine de la Critique Locarno 2022

SYNOPSIS

A young anthropologist, Zdenka, moves with her husband and three sons to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in polar regions. She has received a prestigious two-year grant to carry out extensive research on the impact of globalization on the inhabitants of the world’s northernmost town, Longyearbyen. After falling in love with her new home, Zdenka discovers that more than icebergs and permafrost are vanishing in the Arctic. Through conducting interviews with residents, she begins to perceive how heterogeneous the small local community actually is, while also revealing tensions that lie beneath the surface. Zdenka then has to work out the extent to which she can get involved in the local community that she only originally intended to observe.

PROJECT DETAILS

Original title: Návštěvníci
Length: 83 min
Country: Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia
Produced by: Cinémotif Films (CZ)
Co-produced by: Ten Thousand Images (NO), Peter Kerekes (SK), Czech Television (CZ)
With the support of: Czech Film Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Norwegian Film Institute, Fritt Ord Foundation, Bergensen Foundation, Viken Filmsenter
Partners: Sorel, Columbia, Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicách
Shooting format: Digital 2K/ Color
Screen ratio: 16:9
Format: 5.1, 25 fps
Original language: English, Czech, Norwegian
International sales: Taskovski Films Ltd.
World premiere: Semaine de la Critique Locarno 2022

CREDITS

Writer: Veronika Lišková
Director: Veronika Lišková
Producers: Kristýna Michálek Květová, Martina Netíková
Co-producers: Johanna Dorothea Raita, Mette Cheng Munthe-
Kaas, Peter Kerekes, Anna Mach Rumanová
Director of Photography: Vojtěch Vančura
Editor: Marek Šulík
Music: Jana Winderen, Jonatán Pastirčák
Sound: Jakub Jurásek
Production manager: Kristýna Hněvsová
Main Protagonist: Zdenka Sokolíčková & her family

WORKSHOPS

North Pitch Below Zero | Tromsø 2020
EAST DOC FORUM | East Doc Platform 2020
Czech Docs… Coming Soon | East Doc Platform 2022
Works in Progress | Karlovy Vary IFF 2022 – Eastern Promises

AWARDS

Czech Film Critics Award nomination | Best Documentary
Czech Lion Award nomination | Best Documentary
Pavel Koutecký Award nomination | Best Documentary

One World Film Festival | Best Film in the Czech Competition 2023
One World Film Festival SK | Jury Main Award 2022
Ji.hlava IDFF | Special Mention from the Jury of Czech Joy Section 2022
Job Film Days FF | Grand Jury Award 2023
SNW XVI Festival | Honorable Mention in the Avant-Garde Award category 2023

FESTIVALS

Semaine de la Critique – Locarno
CinEast Luxembourg
Chicago IFF
HRFF Zürich,
Cork IFF
TIFF – Tromsö International Film Festival
Trieste Film Festival
Fipadoc Biarritz
Tempo Documentary Festival
Academia Film Olomouc
Sedona IFF
Kino na Hranic
WOW Wales Film Festival
Dokfest Münich
Trento IFF
Hotdocs
Crossing Europe
The Norwegian Documentary Film Festival – Dokfilm Volda
FILMKUNSTFEST Schwerin
Internationales Frauen Film Festival,
Neisse Film Festival
Krakow Film Festival
Euganea Film Festival
European Film Festival Palic
Pärnu Film Festival
MDOC – Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival
Iceland Documentary Film Festival
DOKUart IFF
Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival
ElbeDock
Finále Plzeň
EKO Film
Job Film Days
Filmfest Osnabrück
Serra da Estrela International Environmental Film Festival
Master International Film Festival
Annual Science New Wave Festival by Science Films
Bergen IFF
Slobodna zona FF 2023/ Free Zone IFF
Pianeta Mare Film Festival
Umeå Film Festival

PRESS MATERIALS