DUCHOŇ
DUCHOŇ
Performance
Trailer
His songs remain popular in Slovakia to this day, younger generations continue to discover them. And yet the life of Karol Duchoň, once the greatest talent of his generation and subsequently the symbol of an era, remains largely unknown. Drawing on the play Zem pamätá ("The Earth Remembers"), the director and screenwriter of which also contributed to the film, director Peter Bebják paints a complex portrait of the character in a series of vignettes. He tells of Karol's first forays into music, cut short as they were by his abusive father, of talent competitions and sudden fame, of awards, sold-out concerts, and trips to the West. And about the darker sides of a life lived constantly in the spotlight: false friends, political harassment, constant debt, and illness. The film remains humorous at just the right moments however, such as when Duchoň meets his Czech counterpart Karel Gott, who comes across as a vain, perpetually smiling poster boy. The atmosphere of the 1970s and 80s is convincingly captured whilst the soundtrack, consisting of Duchoň's greatest hits, sets the tone for this fast-paced, musical frenzy.
Text: Christina Frankenberg
Tue 04.11. I 20:15 I WELTSPIEGEL SAAL 2 I original version with English and German subtitles
Sun 09.11. I 16:00 I WELTSPIEGEL GROSSER SAAL I original version with English and German subtitles
Jiří Havelka, Róbert Mankovecký
Martin Žiaran
Peter Hilčanský
Juraj Kuchárek
Martin Jílek
Vladislav Plevčík, Anna Jakab Rakovská, Gregor Hološka, Agáta Spišáková, Adrian Jastraban
Peter Bebjak - Studied acting and directing. He currently works as a director, producer, actor, and also contributes to screenwriting. Together with Rasťo Šesták, he founded the production company DNA Production in 2001. He gained public attention thanks to the documentary series The Greatest Criminal Cases of Slovakia. Later, he made a name for himself as the director of crime series and minise-ries (including Convicted, Behind the Mirror, City of Shadows, Specialists, Nine-ties, Justice, Mathematics of Crime, The Side Product) and gradually expanded into film (including The Cleaner, The Line, The Rift, Jozef Mak, Whirlwind). His work also includes fairy tales (e.g. Krakonoš’s Secret) and stories depicting key periods of our history (e.g. The Auschwitz Report, The Actor). In addition to Slovakia, he also works in the Czech Republic.Peter Bebjak has received numerous awards, including several Czech Lions, the Best Director Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and multiple Sun in a Net Awards. His film The Auschwitz Report was Slovakia’s national submission for the Academy Awards. He is currently working on his upcoming feature film Duchoň, slated for a theatrical release in July 2025.
