Capitalism from a bird’s-eye perspective.
Eva´s home is a small hill called Birdhill on the outskirts of Bratislava. During her childhood, it was still covered with historic vineyards of Maria Theresa and forest; today’s reality is cranes and excavators. In her film, she gets to know its current inhabitants and discovers that each of them lives and dreams a slightly different version of this charismatic place. Even though they live on the same hill, they cannot come together to set limits on the construction that is transforming their home unrecognizably, ruthlessly and at a breathtaking pace.
ABOUT THE FILM
The film Birdhill delves into the lives of residents of a Bratislava neighborhood. Whether they are former gardeners reminiscing about the times when the area was just vineyards and forests, with no asphalt roads leading here, the director of Google building his dream home for himself and his family, a flat owner in a new development facing communication issues with neighbors, a construction manager of a large apartment complex likely to encroach upon the last piece of wilderness or original animal inhabitants. Fragments of the local stories of the inhabitants of the neighborhood with the characteristic name „Vtáčnik“ blend with the memories of director Eva’s childhood and reflections on the bird community. The perspective of the long-time resident director juxtaposed with that of the birds. Research on the oldest living species on Earth thus shifts the local urban problem to a global philosophical level: What does our behavior, settlement, and coexistence say about the future of our species? Is it pragmatism or imagination that will help humanity survive on this planet?
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OUR TEAM
Eva Križková / scriptwriter and director
Eva Križková graduated in Film Studies at FTF VŠMU in Bratislava. She co-founded the distribution company Filmtopia and the magazine Kinečko, where she served as editor-in-chief for 10 years. Currently, she works as the director of the One World festival in Slovakia. She shot a short film, ‚Fight‘ in Lisbon under the mentorship of Béla Tarr during the Fest Film Lab workshop in 2028. ‚Birdhill‘ is her feature-length debut.“
Silvia Panáková / producer Dayhey
Silvia Panakova is a Slovak film producer with over 20 years of industry experience. She is a graduate of Academy of Performing Arts (FTF VŠMU) Bratislava and has attended a number of prestigious workshops including ACE PRODUCERS and Emerging Producers in Jihlava. Silvia has produced or coproduced a number of highly successful feature films, including The Ballad of Piargy (11 Sun in the Net awards, Audience Award), Fair Play (EFA-nominated), Jan Palach (Czech Film Critics – BEST FILM), The Unseen (CPH: DOX 2021), or Jirikovo Videni (prize at Jihlava 2023). She is a member of the European Film Academy and Slovak Film and Television Academy.
Biba Bohinská / creative producer Dayhey
Biba, along with her colleagues, wrote the acclaimed series about abused women, Secret Lives, for RTVS (Slovak national broadcaster), which was also published as a book. She has written several series for TV Markíza, including Nurses, Red Ribbons, Second Chance, and others. As a dramaturgist, she has worked on projects such as Eight Heads of Madness, Backstage, Piargy, Invisible and more. Recently, she has been working as a creative producer on projects like Birdhill, Borders of Loyalty, They Never Returned, and many others.
Jan Gogola ml. / dramaturgy
Jan Gogola was born in 1971. He is a director, dramaturgist, and lecturer at the FAMU in Prague. He graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Charles University and the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU. For several years, he worked at Czech Television as a dramaturgist and television producer. As a dramaturgist, he contributed to the creation of many documentary films, including „Czech Dream,“ „66 Seasons,“ „Cooking History“ among others. Jan Gogola Jr. is also the author of numerous reviews, articles, and essays. He published the text „The Death of Documentary Film“ (Boundaries in Film, NFA 1999).
Martin Jurči / cinematographer
Martin Jurči studied cinematography at the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratislava. His student experimental film „Concrete Era“ won the Best Cinematography award at the Kinoproba International Film Festival in Yekaterinburg. Even during his studies at the university, he shot his first feature-length documentary debut, The Sailor, which screened at international festivals and received numerous awards. He completed his studies withs film titled „For a Clear Conscience“ which was selected for the Future Frames section at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Currently, he is working on a documentary project in the Republic of South Africa.
Hana Dvořáčková / editor
Hana Dvořáčková studied film editing at the Tomáš Baťa University and later at FAMU in Prague. Since completing her studies, she has worked as a freelance film editor. Her focus lies in editing full-length documentary films, such as Milda, Kalado, Kiruna and others. In film editing, she enjoys crafting the structure of the film, shaping the narrative, and exploring the freedom and possibilities inherent in each piece of material.
Tobiáš Potočný / sound designer
In 2009, he graduated in Sound Composition from the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (FTF VŠMU) in Bratislava. As a sound engineer or designer, he has collaborated on numerous short and feature films, many of which have been recognized at international festivals, such as Censor by Peter Kerekes or Servants by Ivan Ostrochovský. He is the recipient of the Sun in the Net award for Best Sound for the film Koza in 2016. Currently, he serves as the head of the Sound Composition department at Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (FTF VŠMU) in Bratislava. In addition, he is actively engaged in sound design, field recordings, and the restoration of historical audio recordings.
Martin Ožvold / music composer
Martin Ožvold is a composer, sound artist, and theorist. He was born in Bratislava and currently resides in Prague. He studied electroacoustic composition at a university in London, continued his studies in Birmingham, and completed a year-long research program in The Hague. He also works as a lecturer at the Sound Department of FAMU. His interests encompass programming and designing digital electronic instruments, sound compositions, concrete music, and sound installations. He has composed music for productions at the Slovak National Theatre, such as Holly Roth and for the film The Sound Is Innocent. Additionally, he has collaborated on various podcast formats, such as Mathematics of Crime and Anatomy of Fear.
Jarmila Poláková /
co-producer Film & Sociologie
Jarmila Poláková is the producer of the films Olga and Citizen Havel, both awarded the Czech Lion for Best Czech Documentary Film in 2014 and 2008. Citizen Havel was also nominated for the PRIX ARTE award by the European Film Academy and won the LUX ’08 award, the film prize of the European Parliament. Her portfolio also includes films such as Passengers and Libussa Unbound. In recent years, she has worked as a co-producer on films such as How I Became a Partisan, Crazy Dissident, and Birdhill.
Tomáš Kaminský /
co-producer Mandala Pictures
Since 1994, after studying at Comenius University (major in philology: Slovak and Polish language), he has worked in media and independent companies as a journalist, screenwriter, director, dramaturgist, and creative producer. Since 2010, he has produced successful and award-winning documentaries under his brand Mandala Pictures, including The Gypsy Vote, Felvídek – Caught In between Okhwan – On the Road to Freedom, The Flower shop, Other Music, and The Case of Kalmus. As a dramaturgist, he collaborates on documentaries with M. Kuboš. Currently, in addition to enjoying life with his inspirational daughters, he is also involved in dramaturgy at the Kultúrka Cinema in Stupava.
Palo Čejka / author of the visual
Palo Čejka is dedicated to photography, graphic design, illustration, and graphic design, primarily focusing on original linocuts, woodcuts, and experiments with high-altitude printing techniques.
Eva Pavlovičová / impact producer
Eva Pavlovičová graduated from the Faculty of Law at Comenius University in Bratislava (2007) and from the Department of Directing and Production at the Film School in Zlín (2012). In 2010, she founded film magazine KINEČKO, where she served as executive producer and one of ther editors until 2017. From 2017 to 2019, she focused on developing public policies in the creative industries, particularly in audiovisual and multimedia fields, at the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. From 2019 to 2023, she pursued doctoral studies at the Institute of Public Policy at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of Comenius University, focusing on cultural policies. Currently, she works on various film projects as an associate producer and impact producer, primarily focusing on impact campaigns aimed at achieving positive social change through art. She also conducts research on the social impact of films.
CONTACT
Eva Križková
Eva.krizkova@gmail.com