By a Sharp Knife

dir. TEODOR KUHN

DUTCH PREMIERE

Putting the audience face to face with the harsh realities of a corrupt and uncaring system, By a Sharp Knife asks how far a man is willing to go for justice and how far a father is willing to go for his child. Based on a true crime that shook an entire generation.

When David Benko is killed in a neo-nazi attack his family is left heartbroken, none more so than his father. If the insurmountable grief of losing a son was not enough of a tragedy, the four perpetrators are quickly and suspiciously released from custody, and it seems like the brutal crime will go unpunished. Blinded by grief and outrage Ludovit throws himself into bringing his son’s killers to justice regardless of the cost or consequences. His single-minded pursuit quickly becomes an obsession that strains his relationship with his family, taking over his entire life. 

OSTRYM NOZOM | 2019 | 89 min | Slovakia, Czech Republic

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema, 2019 – Grand Prize | Prague International Film Festival, 2019 – Best Film (New Europe Competition) | Sun in a Net Awards, Slovakia 2022 | Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2020

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The need to make “By a Sharp Knife” emerged in me after unidentified neo-Nazis killed an innocent boy – Daniel Tupy in Bratislava. It really took our whole generation by surprise and shaked the common illusion that we lived in a safe and lawful environment. But only a decade later it became clear, that this still unclosed case was just an avantgarde of more serious events. Events that culminated with the entry of an openly neo-Nazi political party into the Slovak Parliament. On the background of real events, the film depicts the problems of a country in a political and economic transformation, suffering the childish illnesses of corruption, nepotism and pathological ideologies. It speaks of a system in which it was impossible to attain justice, because the state authority stopped serving its citizens and only served the advantage of its sponsors. Absurd actions were taken immediately, but the important ones were never justified. Only a system like this made it possible for the media to defame a dead boy into a drug dealer, while his murderers ran free. And run free to this day.

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Teodor Kuhn earned his Art.D. from the Film and TV Faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. His directing and writing talent was evident already from his award-winning shorts. Apart from making films and commercials, Teodor is involved with the Slovak Skateboarding Association, for which he built the first concrete skatepark in Bratislava. He and his wife also helped revitalise the Skarniclova St. Park in Bratislava’s Castle Heights. Furthermore, Teodor is involved with the Vĺčatá.sk initiative whereby he educates parents and teachers about digital technology and computer games. In his free time, he enjoys writing on Facebook, pouring concrete and doing voluntary work.