Skip to main content
The Killing of a Journalist film image, director Matt Sarnecki

The Killing of a Journalist

This event has passed

Matt Sarnecki’s documentary begins with the murder of a crusading Slovak reporter and takes us through the extraordinary aftermath. Ján Kuciak was a dogged investigative scribe, digging up dirt on his country’s most prominent gangsters, as well as their partners in the “legitimate” realms of business and politics. The 2018 assassination of Kuciak and his fiancée was surely intended as a warning to Slovakia’s media establishment, but in fact it had the opposite effect: cross-publication cooperation in an all-out effort to expose the guilty parties.

The story of that endeavour is rich indeed: among its lurid ingredients are hidden thumb drives, widespread sexual blackmail, massive corruption, and the coordination of homicide via emoji-laced text messages. As it moves from Kuciak’s murder through the ensuing revelations and their seismic political impact, Sarnecki’s work holds the fascination of a bonafide page-turner.

[A] riveting true crime tale. As an exposé, it’s explosive. As journalism, it’s watertight.”—Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

 

Media Partner

The Tyee logo

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Denmark

Year

2022

Language

In Slovak and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
100 min
Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Apocalypse in the Tropics

Dir. Petra Costa
110 min

An Academy Award nominee for Edge of Democracy, Petra Costa returns with a fascinating take on how the Evangelical movement has taken Brazil by storm and worked with the right to undermine the constitutional separation of Church and State.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Ghosts of the Sea

97 min

Imagine an especially poetic true crime podcast about a sailor who built his own sailboat and lived on the high seas, but lost not one, but two wives along the way... Now imagine it told from the vantage point of his daughter: Ghosts of the Sea.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

In the Mood for Love

Dir. Wong Kar-wai
107 min

Wong Kar-wai's most acclaimed and popular film is a love story about two neighbours (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) who are drawn together by the long absences of their respective spouses + a newly released short companion piece from 2001.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Life of Chuck

Dir. Mike Flanagan
111 min

The winner of the coveted Audience Award at TIFF last year, The Life of Chuck keeps us guessing about what it's up to and where it's going... Trust us, it's a keeper.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

In the Heat of the Night

Dir. Norman Jewison
110 min

Sidney Poitier in an indelible role a Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs, pulled in as a murder suspect when changing trains in Mississippi. He allies with bigoted local sheriff (Rod Steiger) to solve the case.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Happy Feet

Dir. George Miller
168 min

A tap-dancing penguin named Mumble can't sing like the others, but his unique skill may save his colony. Happy Feet is a music-filled adventure that celebrates courage, friendship, staying true to yourself, and is a perfect icy break this summer!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Executive Producer

Drew Sullivan, Paul Radu

Producer

Signe Byrge Sørensen

Cinematography

Anna Smoroňová

Editor

Janus Billeskov Jansen

Original Music

Kristian Eidnes Andersen

Director

Matt Sarnecki headshot, The Killing of a Journalist director

Matt Sarnecki

Matt Sarnecki is a journalist, producer, and film director at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. His documentary Killing Pavel (2017), about the murder of investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet, won the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal in 2017 and the 2018 Documentari, Inchieste, Giornalismi Award in the Investigative Medium category. He spent several years working in television and documentary in New York and has produced and directed series for VICE and Powder.com. Sarnecki has a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and has lived in Bucharest, Romania since 2013.