Only Beautiful Things to Look At
DUTCH PREMIERE
In 1980s Czechoslovakia, a gynaecologist’s friendship with a young Romani orderly forces her to confront her role in the state-sponsored sterilisation of Romani women.
Ingrid is a gynaecologist at a district hospital in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1980s. She delivers babies, performs abortions and sterilises Romani women, often without their informed consent, while believing she is acting in their best interests. When Agáta, a young Romani orderly, joins the hospital staff, the two form an unexpected bond, and Ingrid’s worldview begins to shift. Ivan Ostrochovský’s drama confronts an unresolved chapter of Czechoslovak history, when the state intervened in the reproductive lives of Romani women.
SCREENINGS
Saturday 7 November 16:30
Sunday 8 November 16:45
Director Ivan Ostrochovský will be present for a Q&A after the screenings
Programme section(s): Cinema Current
Original title: Prameň | Year: 2026 | Runtime: 88′
Country: Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary | Language: Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Romani | Subtitles: English
Cast: Aňa Geislerová, Simona Boledovičová, Eva Mores, Vlad Ivanov, Éva Bandor
Director: Ivan Ostrochovský | Production: Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský, Katarína Tomková – Punkchart films; Pavel Strnad, Petr Oukropec – Negativ; Proton Cinema, STVR, Czech Television | Screenplay: Marek Leščák, Ivan Ostrochovský | Cinematography: Juraj Chlpík | Editing: Martin Malo, Josef Krajbich
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2026 – World Premiere, FIPRESCI Prize in Crystal Globe Competition | New Horizons International Film Festival, 2026
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Ivan Ostrochovský is a Slovak director, screenwriter and producer. His films include Velvet Terrorists (2013), presented in the Berlinale Forum; Koza (2015); and Servants (2020), selected for Berlinale Encounters. He co-wrote 107 Mothers (2021), which received the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival. Photophobia (2023), co-directed with Pavol Pekarčík, won the Europa Cinemas Label at Giornate degli Autori. In 2026, his fiction feature Only Beautiful Things to Look At and documentary Igor and After premiered at Karlovy Vary.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
It was never my intention to make a film about monsters and victims. I wanted to create a film about how pragmatic intentions can turn into injustice when we stop seeing the individual and begin believing in abstract ideas of what is right and beneficial for society. A film about how easily we can rationalise our own convictions. I believe that people are capable of recognising their mistakes and gradually trying to make amends. Sometimes that reckoning comes too late and can never be fully complete. Yet the effort remains worthwhile. It is easy to stop questioning and surrender to the “logic of the times”; it is immensely difficult to confront and challenge our own misconceptions, or those we have inherited from others. Which of the beliefs we take for granted today will future generations one day regard as mistakes?
