SVĚTLONOC

Decades after a family tragedy, Šarlota returns to her small Slovakian hometown, which is characterised by a toxic mixture of patriarchal structures and blind superstition. A witch is said to still dwell in the neighbouring dark forest and to have made pacts with Šarlota's family in the past. It is not long before the young woman and her friend Mira, also an outsider, become the target of hostility. In her second feature film, Tereza Nvotová revises classic depictions of witches and invokes natural femininity as an essential force in the face of prevailing gender and power relations. Awarded the Golden Leopard 2022 (Cineasti del Presente).