The Killing of a Journalist
16th september 2022
8:30 PM
International Contest
Short Synopsys:
A young investigative journalist and his fiancée are brutally murdered in their home in Slovakia. Their deaths inspire the biggest protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism. The story takes an unexpected turn when a source leaks the secret murder case file to the murdered journalist’s colleagues. It includes the computers and encrypted communications of the assassination’s alleged mastermind, a businessman closely connected to the country’s ruling party. Trawling these encrypted messages, journalists discover that their country has been captured by corrupt oligarchs, judges and law enforcement officials. A reckoning awaits.
COPERTINA
Directed by: Matt Sarnecki
Production: Final Cut for Real, Frame Films, GoFat Productions
Producer: Singe Byrge Sorensen, Julia Love Babuščák
Editing: Janus Billeskov Jansen
Cinematography: Anna Smoroňová
Running time: 100
Country: Czech Republic
Year: 2022
Contacts: info@final-cut.dk, www.finalcutforreal.dk
Director’s statement:
The murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend was brutal and cold-blooded. It was the elimination of a young engaged couple working to build a better and fairer Slovakia. Their deaths rightly provoked a revolution of sorts: the biggest protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism and the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico. I made this documentary because the story has a twist that tells a deep and shocking tale of corruption. A year and a half after the murders, Pavla Holcová, the protagonist of the documentary, together with her team, learns the contents of the secret case file showing a completely corrupt state. This is Jan’s story, something I don’t want the world to forget.