Note: Free tickets for the event must be claimed in advance.
The European Accessibility Act provides new momentum for more accessible audiovisual content. How is its implementation playing out in practice? What does it mean for the film industry, and what changes does it bring for audiences? Are the new rules already yielding concrete results? And where is their implementation stalling? The sixth annual Audiovisuals Without Barriers will explore these questions as part of another relevant, one-day international discussion.
Domestic and international experts will focus on the impact of the new legislation on the audiovisual sector and clearly identify the opportunities it opens up for the accessibility of film production, festivals, and distribution. We will examine the specific benefits and challenges of its implementation in Slovakia, as well as in the broader context of the European Union. What changes have already been achieved? Where do we encounter a lack of resources, experience, or cooperation? Why is it truly inadvisable to address accessibility merely as a formality, and what do we need to know today to avoid unnecessary missteps or mistakes that could ultimately prove costly?
We’ll move from questions to concrete solutions. People from the film industry, institutions, and the field of accessibility will pool their experiences to ensure that new requirements and European standards translate into real changes in Slovak movie theaters.
Join us and be part of it!
Moderator:
Emília Perez—accessibility expert, Culture Access Lab, Department of Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts, UKF in Nitra
Panelists:
Mariana Chytilová - Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity Consultant, Czech Republic
Gabriele Uzzo - Researcher and Accessibility Manager at SudTitles, Italy
Natália Centková – Project Manager for accessibility and inclusion at Kino Úsmev, Slovakia
Slavomíra Sálayová - Member of the Board of the Audiovisual Fund
The discussion will be simultaneously interpreted from and into Slovak Sign Language, as well as from Slovak into English.
The discussion will be followed by a closed-door roundtable where we will work together with representatives of communities disadvantaged in their access to culture to identify problems and seek solutions.
The panel discussion is co-organized by the Department of Translation Studies at the Faculty of Arts, UKF in Nitra, with support from the VEGA 2/0092/23 project, “Translation and the Act of Translating in the History and Present of the Slovak Cultural Space.”
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This screening is part of the IncluCine 2 project, implemented within the Collaborate to Innovate scheme under the auspices of Europa Cinemas and funded by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme.
At just sixteen, Soraya is already creating stunning drawings and sculptures that are as beautiful as they are dark. This strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator has been trying for five years to escape Iran and join her mother in Austria. This subtly textured self-portrait interweaves chilling scenes of her escape attempts with political news from Afghanistan and videos in which she sings and dances – or shows her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man, and she is determined to shape her own future. Mehrdad Oskouei directed this film entirely remotely, with Soraya filming all the footage herself over five years using her phone. This material is interspersed with shots of her drawings and surreal animations. Making art is no idle pastime for Soraya. She puts all her worries, joys, and fears into her drawings and the sculptures she makes from soaked egg cartons or clay that she finds along her escape routes. Many of her drawings feature recurring figures: a loyal fox who is her traveling companion, a pink moon that always watches over her, and a clown who ever laughs – a character Soraya identifies with.
Awards:
IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2025 (Netherlands)
Big Stamp in the International Competition – Zagrebdox 2026 (Croatia)
Jury Award a Audience Award for Best International Documentary – Docville 2026, Leuven (Belgium)
Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award for Best International Documentary – Tempo Documentary Festival 2026, Stockholm (Sweden)
Below, we offer a statement from the jury of the student competition Another Gaze:
The documentary tells a powerful story about an even more powerful heroine who faces difficult situations. Her story shows bravery and determination in the face of challenging obstacles. The film is also remarkable for its technical approach, as the majority of the footage was recorded on the protagonist’s mobile phone, even in situations when doing so was far from safe. The documentary’s use of a diary or vlog-style format is equally exceptional. It gives the film a more personal and authentic feel, further enhanced by colourful drawings and animations created by the protagonist. They offer us a glimpse into her interior life and feelings that cannot be fully expressed through words, but can be conveyed by art. It is admirable how rich a creative life the protagonist leads despite her difficult circumstances. It is her sanctuary, giving her the inner strength to endure and keep moving forward. It is these aspects in particular that enrich the film to such an extent that we rank it among the most formally original films of this year’s festival. The heroine’s inner world is represented through allegories. As a result, her personal story becomes universal, allowing the audience to find their own meanings within it.
Director Mehrdad Oskouei, together with Soraya Akhlaghi – the co-director and protagonist – will discuss the making of the film after the screening. They will talk about how their remote collaboration unfolded over the five years of filming, what it took to achieve freedom in both practical and personal terms, and how the raw footage shot on a mobile phone gradually became a finished film. Audiences will therefore have the unique opportunity to hear from someone who lived through this story, as well as from the director who helped bring it to the big screen, and to ask questions about a project that has been in the making for years.
The discussion will be held in English and Persian and moderated by Slovak-Iranian stand-up comedian and activist Nasi (Nastaran Motlagh). The discussion will be interpreted into Slovak Sign Language.
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This screening is part of the IncluCine 2 project, implemented within the Collaborate to Innovate scheme under the auspices of Europa Cinemas and funded by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme.
“We Have to Survive” is a cinematic odyssey across our shared home – Earth – capturing the extraordinary ways people adapt, endure, and find hope in a changing world. Journeying across four continents, the film invites us into different “rooms” of our global home: the fragile Outer Banks of the USA, where the ocean slowly reclaims the land; the vast Mongolian desert, where a family plants trees against the wind; the underground town of Coober Pedy in Australia, where people build their lives beneath the scorching surface of the earth; and the icy shores of Greenland, where ancient fishing traditions melt into new beginnings. Through intimate, character-driven stories, “We Have to Survive” reveals not only the challenges of a changing world but also the unbreakable spirit of those who call it home. Every scene is a window into human resilience – a reminder that despite distance and difference, we share the same roots, the same sky, the same fragile planet. This is not a film about despair, but about courage. It’s a call to remember that our greatest power lies in caring – for one another and for the only home we have.
Three Ukrainian drag queens – Marlene, Monroe, and Aura – choose to remain in their war-torn country, fighting for LGBTQ+ inclusion amid Russiaʼs invasion. Spanning from the 2014 Maidan Revolution to spring 2024, their story blends the glamour of drag with the brutality of war. Marlene, a beloved drag icon, hides a vulnerable side as Alexander, grappling with trauma and family obligations. Monroe, a popular influencer, navigates her evolving gender identity while advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. Aura, determined to fight for inclusion in both the military and society, balances the chaos of war with her love for drag. A charity drag show becomes a powerful moment of unity and resilience. The protagonists’ complex personalities are revealed gradually along with their doubts and struggles. Yet these do not stand in the way of celebrating life. On the contrary, it is in difficult moments that the strength and courage of those who choose to face adversity shine through. The film is a story of self-discovery, love, hope, and the power to find joy even in the darkest of times. The film Queens of Joy was nominated for the Golden Alexander in the Newcomers Competition section at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2025 (Greece).
The screening will be introduced by Roman Samotný.
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Funded by the European Union.
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Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Slovakia has 1,200 environmental burdens, including 260 in an alarming state. The contaminated landscapes become symbols of our relationship with the Earth and a testament to humankind’s destructive nature. Three women directors explore three of the country’s most dangerous toxic waste sites, offering a cinematic therapy for climate anxiety.
What does it mean to live in an area that has long been burdened by chemical pollution? This documentary explores the daily reality of people living in regions affected by environmental contamination and shows the impact that long-term contamination can have on health, the environment, and the functioning of entire communities. At the same time, it raises questions about responsibility, solutions to legacy environmental contamination, and how people living in these areas cope with the situation.
During the discussion following the film, we will focus on the film’s production, the filmmakers’ experiences during shooting, and their interactions with people from the affected communities. We will discuss how residents perceive life in the affected environment, what stories and experiences they shared during filming, and what the perspective of local communities can reveal about the broader issue of environmental contamination in Slovakia. We will also explore how to address such topics so that they do not remain merely a problem for specific regions.
Guests of the discussion: directors Viera Čákanyová, Barbora Sliepková and Lucia Kašová
The discussion, held in Slovak, will be moderated by Viktória Novotňaková.
The screening and discussion will be followed by a party at Temný Ost Block.
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Funded by the European Union.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
For more than twenty years, Hind has lived a marriage shaped by absence. Her spouse is serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison, one of thousands of Palestinian men incarcerated far from their families. Visits are rare, physical contact is forbidden, and intimacy is impossible. Yet Hind still dreams of becoming a mother. Through an extraordinary underground network, Palestinian prisoners have found a way to smuggle their sperm out of prison, allowing their wives to conceive through IVF. The film follows Hind through the intimate stages of this journey: secret phone calls, medical appointments, moments of hope, and devastating uncertainty. Interwoven with Hindʼs story are the voices of other women, doctors, and former prisoners who reveal the human cost of incarceration beyond prison walls. The film moves between domestic spaces and heavily restricted institutions, showing how love, desire, and parenthood persist even under extreme control. Told entirely through real-time observation, the film reframes motherhood not as a private desire, but as a space shaped by power, control, and enforced absence. It offers an intimate, restrained portrait of women whose bodies become quiet sites of resistance, and of lives suspended between waiting, hope, and the cost of endurance. The film For Life had its world premiere at the Visions du Réel 2026 International Film Festival in Nyon (Switzerland).
When war and occupation become part of everyday reality, the meaning of ordinary life changes too. Seeing loved ones seems impossible, safety and security become a rarity, and bringing a child into the world turns into an act of resistance. In the post-screening discussion, the guests – Salma Al Henami, who is of Slovak-Yemeni origin, Lebanese-born Rami Jacob, and Julián Vrábel, who spent two months in the West Bank – will explore what family means when it is shaped not only by love, but also by perseverance and the struggle for survival.
The discussion will be held in Slovak and will be interpreted into Slovak Sign Language.
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Funded by the European Union.
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The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA assumes any responsibility for them.
The event is also accessible with audio description and descriptive subtitles thanks to the IncluCine 2 project, which is being implemented as part of the Collaborate to Innovate initiative under the auspices of Europa Cinemas and is funded by the Creative Europe – MEDIA program.
A documentary film by Viera Čákanyová, Lucia Kašová, and Barbora Sliepková "Wasteland Chronicles" takes us on a journey to the three biggest environmental burdens in Slovakia. Following its Slovak premiere at the One World Festival and the subsequent discussion, we are moving to Ost Block, where the dystopia continues.
Behind the mixing board will be Aid Kid, a Czech producer, musician and composer of the film’s score, who will guide us deeper into the toxic zone with his electronic music.
A night that toes the line between film dystopia and electronic underground awaits us.
Join the creative team, film enthusiasts and anyone not afraid to step into the wasteland.
22. 10. 2026 | Ost Block, Bratislava
Free entry. The zone is open to everyone.