Kidnapping

Set in the mid-1990s, the political thriller Kidnapping captures the circumstances surrounding a reallife scandal – the abduction of the president's son, Michal Kováč Jr. The noirish crime thriller recounts a time of political power struggle, when representatives of the state had no scruples about misusing secret services or government authorities to fulfil their aims, even going so far as to involve the criminal underworld in their nefarious practices. This ill-famed era gave rise to a number of suspicious acts and unsolved murders, which were swept under the rug by the prime minister when, as acting president, he declared his infamous amnesties. Casting well-known Slovak actors, director Mariana Čengel Solčanská brings the main players in these events back to centre stage. The suspenseful atmosphere and riveting plot are compounded by the chilling realization that this is a story about real people with real fates and human tragedies that remain uninvestigated to this day. (Art Film Fest)