The Slovak Film and Television Academy (SFTA) announced on Thursday in Bratislava the winners of the national film award Sun in the Network for the year 2025. The awards ceremony brought several speeches that really resonated. One of them was handled by Roman Kelemen, who received the award in the Best Film Editing category for the film Nepela.
In his speech when accepting the statuette, he aimed directly at the Ministry of Culture to Martina Šimkovičová. “Hatred of queer people and hatred of otherness is still very strongly present. The parallel between how Ondrej Nepela felt as a queer person in a regime that every sane person must condemn is eerily similar to how many queer people feel today,” Kelemen said.
“And I would be very happy if the things that we tried to get into the film within the framework of these themes, that is, empathy, understanding, love and, above all, reason, so that these things could one day reach, for example, the Ministry of Culture, where these things are not present at the moment. Our minister, Martina Šimkovičová, is known for her toxic and homophobic statements, and that definitely has no place in any society, let alone in a culture that is supposed to be a place of inclusivity, freedom and to provide a safe place for everyone without distinction.” he added without a napkin.
The highlight of the evening was the actor’s speech Maroš Kramárwho was presenting the award for the best film. “In the world, actors express themselves about politics, so I think we could also express ourselves without shame,” he noted before the nominations were announced. He then highlighted personalities who successfully represent Slovakia abroad – from scientists and athletes to filmmakers whose works have won international awards. In this context, he did not like the fact that STVR, as an institution paid from public resources, ignored the national awards.
He began his speech by acknowledging those who make the country a good name abroad. “I was thinking if I would also say something about this situation and while I’m here, I’ll try. I think that there are very few people in our beautiful Slovakia who can represent us abroad. First of all, it is probably the athletes who represent us, for which they deserve thanks. There is no need to envy them that they have good salaries abroad, because there is a lot of hard work and talent behind it,” he said at the beginning.
At the same time, he pointed out the differences in how the public learns about achievements in different areas. “Then there are, for example, scientists that no one knows about, but they also deserve a lot of thanks. Athletes have an advantage because they do not need to know a foreign language. Another thing is that they are lucky in this beautiful Slovakia, because we all know about them. In the news, we always find out who is abroad, what success they had,” he noted.
He particularly highlighted Slovak film production. “And then there are people in culture who are also able to make our little Slovakia famous abroad. And those are films, for example, it’s difficult for the actors, because we have a language barrier here, but as a whole, as a film, we can make a name for ourselves abroad. And this evening belongs to the people who succeeded,” he said.
“There are nominated films that were at various festivals abroad. They were not only screened there, but were even awarded. I think that the Slovak people should know about these people, and for that we have our public Slovak television (STVR), which this year not only did not record it like last year, but this year even said that it will not even film it, not even for the next generations,” he explained his indignation.
He also turned his attention to the leadership led by Martina Flašíková and government officials. “I think that’s a great shame. I don’t know about you, but I think they should be ashamed. Not only in our television, but also those above them. I mean the Ministry of Culture and I mean our entire government outfit… Enough is enough, Fica.” he said forcefully, making it obvious that he won’t be appearing on public television screens anytime soon.
