Pompous opening of the exhibition featured an opera diva with piano accompaniment. At the opening, Richard Raši gave Juraj Jakubisko the Plaque of the Mayor of Košice. “As a token of gratitude and respect from us, all Košice residents, for everything you do for our city as well as for the entire Slovakia,” R. Raši expressed his gratitude. The director considered the award a great honour. “I was already on the other side of life, but when I learnt that Košice is the Capital of Culture, I have returned,” joked the artist about his health.

Personality of ECOC – Košice 2013

European Capital of Culture – Košice 2013 presents the director through the Jakubisko’s Days festival also as a personality of fine arts. The exhibition includes serigraphs, paintings and film posters. “It is not a retrospective, but a cross-section through his work over the recent five years, where we see a dive into magical realism, imaginary world, gardens, beautiful women, relationships, love, but also hate, hypocrisy, dreaming, folk tales, and direct influences from certain films,” said Vladimír Beskid, exhibition curator, about the pictures.

He says he cannot draw

Juraj Jakubisko modestly claims about himself that he cannot draw. “I think my best art are pictures on the canvas of the silver screen,” explains the previous self-criticism. He puts his own film world even into fine arts. Painting is a form of relaxation for him. “Sometimes I sit in the studio, listen to old classical music, and paint,” reveals the director. He has personal relations to every picture at the exhibition. Each work recalls certain memories. With a smile he remembers the situation when he painted his first nude. “I showed it to my father and I got a slap.”

Originally, he wanted to have up to 70 pictures at the exhibition, but there are only 25. “I was told there was not enough room, and now the walls are bare,” complained the artist with a smile. The selection process was difficult for him. Visual gems have waited for several years to be unveiled. “Many of them were just ideas and were not finished artistically.” He says he has mastered the fine-art alphabet, and therefore they could have been exhibited. “I think that the brand of oil paints is not significant. Important is your fantasy,” added Jakubisko.

Magnifying glass and women’s bodies

Surreal paintings at the exhibition include a series of serigraphs. Andy Warhol used a similar technique. “Out of the dark I lift the face, eyes, cheeks, hands, I work with the body, it is amazing,” compared his technique to sculpturing. He says it is like when a sculptor creates an artwork from stone. One of the visitors to the exhibition looked at the pictures with a magnifying glass. He explained he was not looking at the naked female bodies, but was further exploring serigraph.

Vivid Silver to reveal how he lost his virginity

Košice-based photographer A. Jiroušek gave the maestro a photographic view of his native village of Kojšov. Jakubisko is planning to publish soon a book on his birthplace. “I have been a Košice resident since 1945, and I write about the changing city in my book Vivid Silver.” The book should be full of humour. “I describe my attempts to lose virginity, but Košice and Prešov girls were very decent,” revealed the humourous artist. Read the forthcoming book to see what finally happened to him in Prague.              

Jakubisko swallowed by the crowd

The public and the media swarmed around Jakubisko. His natives took pictures with him, asked for autographs, everyone wanted a “piece of Jakubisko”. After many years, the co-creator of Czech and Slovak culture met with old schoolmates. The exhibition opening was attended by Milan Sládek (former schoolmate), who performed that night in St. Elisabeth’s Cathedral. “I am thoroughly shocked to see so many Košice residents here,” said the cinema maestro with a smile. The VojtechLöfflerMuseum holds Jakubisko’s exhibition to 12th April.

On 23^rd – 30^th March, Košice holds the film festival Jakubiskove dni (Jakubisko’s Days). Within the festival, Juraj Jakubisko is be presented also as a painter with his 30 works. The selling exhibition includes a series of serigraphs, original movie posters and oil paintings, including some worth 700 000 CZK.

“It is a unique opportunity for the Košice cultural community to see Jakubisko as a painter showing the full potential of creativity of the fragile and poetic world,” says Vladimír Beskid, art director of Košice 2013 and curator of the exhibition. They intend to introduce the artist as a comprehensive personality – as a famous film director and also a man who is a proficient painter and writer.

Historical epic film Bathory, the most expensive film project in Central Europe, opens the cinema section of the festival on 24^th March 2013 at 18:00 at the Ster Century Cinemas. “Jakubisko is one of the four key figures of the European Capital of Culture, therefore we dedicated to him the entire film festival that is held in Košice as well as in other cities of the region,” says V. Beskid.

On Monday, cinema lovers can enjoy a lecture by Juraj Jakubisko on “The future of filmmaking art”. His films have won dozens of awards and are screened throughout the week.

Visitors can admire his works of art until 12^th April. The festival continues from 1^st to 7^th April in Prešov, Bardejov, Levoča, Spišská Nová Ves, and Humenné.    

Maestro Director presents his visual art

The festival presents Juraj Jakubisko, a key figure of the European Capital of Culture – Košice 2013, as a visual artist and also as a painter. The director is exceptional not only for his cinematography, but also as a great fine artist – something almost unknown about him. Juraj uses the canvas to render scenes from his own films. He always draws the images, visualised in his head while shooting, in a diary first. His works include paintings and drawings. The opening of the exhibition of selected works by Juraj Jakubisko is held on 23^rd March 2013 at 17:00, at Vojtech Löffler Museum in Košice. The exhibition runs until 12^th April.

Lectures with cinematography experts

The one-week film festival is accompanied by expert lectures at the Aula Maxima of the TechnicalUniversity in Košice. On 25^th March 2013, cinema lovers can enjoy a lecture by Juraj Jakubisko on “The future of filmmaking art”. At 10:30, you have a unique opportunity to hear from a director who significantly contributed to Slovak and worldwide cinematography. His exceptional cinematic style is widely recognised abroad as well. Peter Konečný continues the professional discourse entitled “See You in Hell, Friends” on 27^th March 2013 at 16:00. The topic for Thursday is “Deserters, Fools, Pilgrims and Birds of Juraj Jakubisko” – writer Peter Michalovič discusses his monograph on Jakubisko at 11:00. He spent three years studying the director’s works and wrote a recollection on Jakubisko and his films. Michalovič, an expert in Jakubisko, was ranked among the 25 most influential Slovaks in 2008. Admission to lectures is free.

Bathory to solemnly open the festival

Historical epic film Bathory, the most expensive film project in Central Europe, solemnly opens the cinema section of the festival on 24^th March 2013 at 18:00 at the Ster Century Cinemas. The cinematography Maestro attends the screening of the feature film in person at 19:00. The box-office hit broke attendance records in Czech and Slovak cinemas. The historical drama has won several awards and also had a notable success internationally when it was awarded the prestigious “Best Artistic Achievement” award at the Monaco Film Festival.

Cinematographic gems at the Úsmev cinema

Juraj Jakubisko shot some high-quality short films while studying at FAMU (FilmAcademy). In addition to the renowned ones, the audience can watch his less well-known student films screened on 25^th March 2013 at 18:00. Several short films document his early beginnings with directing and screenwriting. At 19:00 follows the comedy Infidelity, Slovak Style (1980) that won the “Laughter Award” at the Czech and Slovak Comedy Film Festival in 1982. With humour, the film criticises hypocrisy, affectation and male pride, and captures the life of a bunch of philandering lumberjacks in the country.

From 26^th March 2013, you can enjoy valuable older films. The qualities of the Deserters and Pilgrims narrative film (1968) were also appreciated at the Venice Biennale. The film won many awards, such as Igric 1967 for directing and cinematography, Igric 1968 for screenplay, directing and cinematography, Trilobit 1967 and Trilobit 1968 for screenplay, directing and cinematography, Zlatá Siréna (“Golden Sirene”) for directing, Grand Prix Ledňáček (“Kingfisher”) for directing and cinematography. You can watch this apocalyptic vision of three wars in three stories at 18:00. Jakubisko’s newer film Post Coitum screens at 20:30. This modern controversial story, dubbed “Chilling City Comedy”, is interesting for its attractive topic and ambitious visual style. Its title is derived from the Latin aphorism “Post coitum omne animal triste” (After intercourse, every animal is sad).

Two tragicomedies are screened on 27^th March 2013. First, at 18:00, is the newer one, It’s Better to Be Wealthy and Healthy Than Poor and Ill (1992). This film won the Golden Dolphin major prize at the IX Festivale de Cinema de Troia Setuba in Costa Azil, Portugal (1993). Screening at 18:00 is the film Build a House, Plant a Tree (1980), which won the Jury Prize at the International Film Festival in Holland.

On Thursday, 28^th March 2013 at 18:00, the audience should brace themselves for A Thousand-Year Old Bee, a historical epic film, a saga of three generations of one family (1887 – 1917), a parable about life in a beehive community. This opus magnum won the Czechoslovak Journalist Award (1984), Czechoslovak Film Critics Award for 1983, Grand Prix Ledňáček, and became the winning film in the Best 1980s Film poll. It was awarded the Golden Phoenix in Venice for art direction and best cinematography, together with the Catholic Award. The epic won the UNICEF Award in Belgrade, and Spanish Confederation of Film Clubs Grand Prix for the festival’s best film in Spain.

The award-winning Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969) screens on 29^th March 2013 at 18:00. It takes you back to the Prague Spring period and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion which crushed it. Jaubisko’s thirteenth opus An Ambiguous Report About the end of the World follows at 20:00. This epic was featured at several film festivals where it won multiple awards (Los Angeles, New Delhi, the Cinematography Award in Montreal, the Golden Dolphin Grand Prix in Pesaro). The black humour scenes alternate with passionate action, unfolding from the fateful story of unrequited love. The tale of two sinful lovers is a parable about the end of the world as predicted by Nostradamus and the Bible.

On the last festival day, 30^th March 2013, you are invited to become part of Jakubisko’s debut feature Crucial Years a.k.a. Christ’s Years (1967). The full-length film of a generation-gap drama screens at 18:00. The festival closes at 20:00 by the Czechoslovak epic film I’m Sitting on a Branch and I’m Fine (1989). Admission to award-wining films is only €1.50 at the Úsmev cinema.

About the director

Jakubisko was born on 30^th April 1938 in the village of Kojšov, near Košice. He has lived in Prague since 1993, but still feels like a Košice resident. He studied photography at the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava. At the beginning of his career, Juraj was attracted to photography, graphics, puppet theatre, camera, figurative painting, and directing. He studied directing at FAMU (FilmAcademy) in Prague. After graduation in 1966, he became a distinguished author to enrich the national cinematography. Jakubisko has been a member of the EuropeanFilmAcademy since 1998. He has became a phenomenon in his own country and abroad. Jakubisko has won many major international film awards.