Skip to main content
Father film image; man lying on a mattress

Father

Otec

Showcase

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

Inspired by real-life events, Father tells the story of a man whose momentary lapse cost him everything. On a hot summer day, Michal wakes up next to his wife and two-year-old daughter. He goes for a run, gets ready for work, and packs the child in the car to drop her off at kindergarten on his way to the office. It’s a big day at work with the restructuring consultant coming in, but everything is going to plan, until Michal’s wife checks in about an odd call she received from the kindergarten.

Father is a profoundly unsettling, devastating watch that doubles as a solemn, immaculately realized account of a tragedy of insurmountable proportions. In a distinct departure from her earlier work, Tereza Nvotová (Nightsiren, VIFF 2022) employs an unflinchingly immersive technique that situates the viewer in the eye of the storm, resulting in a visceral experience that ultimately calls for deep empathy.

 

Oscar Submission: Slovakia

 

Supported by

Director
Cast

Milan Ondrík, Dominika Morávková, Aňa Geislerová, Martina Sľúková, Dominika Zajcz, Peter Ondrejička

Credits
Country of Origin

Czech Republic/Poland/
Slovakia

Year

2025

Language

In Slovak with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Depiction of extreme case of child neglect

18+

At International Village & VIFF Centre

19+

At Fifth Avenue

103 min
Drama Family Relations Women Directors
DANAE Production, Moloko Film, Lava Films

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Producer

Veronika Paštéková, Anton Skreko, Karel Chvojka, Miloš Lochman, Marta Gmosińska, Mariusz Włodarski

Screenwriter

Dušan Budzak, Tereza Nvotová

Cinematography

Adam Suzin

Editor

Nikodem Chabior

Original Music

Pjoni

Art Director

Nina Feriancová

Tereza Nvotová headshot

Tereza Nvotová

Filmography: Filthy (2017); Meciar (2017); Nightsiren (2022)

 

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

The End of the Internet + Installation & Talk

Dir. Dylan Reibling
107 min

Forget the cloud. "The net" is a far more accurate metaphor for the www. Filmmaker Dylan Reibling meets the hacktavists around the world fighting for the independent flow of information free from censorship and exploitation.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Lucid

Dir. Deanna Milligan & Ramsey Fendall
114 min

Art student Mia is struggling with a make-or-break assignment, a self-portrait. It's only when grandma lets slip that her mom used to hypnotize her as a child to blank out the bad bits that she realizes the severity of the challenge...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Two Pianos

Dir. Arnaud Desplechin
115 min

Once promising concert pianist Mathias (François Civil) returns to his native Lyon after a long absence. He's here to pay homage to his mentor, Elena (Charlotte Rampling). But a chance encounter with an old flame sends him spiraling.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Richest Woman in the World

Dir. Thierry Klifa
123 min

Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Steal This Story, Please!

Dir. Carl Deal & Tia Lessin
101 min

Urgent, provocative and unexpectedly funny, Steal This Story, Please! is a portrait of Amy Goodman, the host of the long-running progressive news show, Democracy Now!

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Blue Film

Dir. Elliot Tuttle
82 min

This transgressive two hander puts an Only Fans camboy in a room with a secret admirer. Turns out they have history... Not an easy watch, but a film that will fuel discussion for those who are open to it.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre