Little Harbour

Slovakia/The Czech Republic/Hungary / 2017 / 90'
Film, 10+

10-year-old Jarka is used to taking care of herself. Her grandmother is ill, while her underage mother is often away from home. Her friend, 8-year-old Kristjan, lives in the same housing project. He comes from a well-situated, over-protective family, and is experiencing violence at school. His carefree time is spent playing video games. One day, Jarka gives refuge to two infants abandoned at the train station. Jarka and Kristjan take on the role of their parents and, in the grandmother’s abandoned cottage with a beautiful garden, create a brand new world with the little twins. This becomes a world in which the children assume responsibility and lovingly care for their near and dear ones. The film is based on Monika Kompaníková’s book, The Fifth Boat, which became the Slovak Book of the Year 2010. The book has been translated into several languages and transformed into numerous dramatizations for theatre and film.

The author on Little Harbour: “The most important thing was to find a really talented little girl. Her role required a deeper psychology in the acting performance and, at the same time, I was looking for a certain spark, a temperament within her to make the character of Jarka interesting for audiences. And I found this girl in Vanessa. The most difficult thing was motivating the children, to make them want to shoot the film, to enjoy it. Once something became routine for them, it wasn’t so easy to figure out how to go on effectively. Of course, making the child characters credible was a great challenge. We took a big chance, because the main heroine really is in almost every shot and she has to carry the entire film. And we also knew that adult audiences have difficulties in identifying with a child in the title role.”

Festivals, awards: Berlinale –Best Film in the Generation category; Zlin – Best Youth Performance.

Projekcija poteka v okviru posebnega filmskega programa ob priložnosti madžarskega predsedovanja Višegrajski skupini 2017/2018 (V4 CONNECTS).

// in Slovak, with Slovene and English subtitles //

Tickets: €4,50 
(€6 for both films: Little Harbour and The Summer 1993)