The fate of the villages in Mara’s home valley is sealed by the project of the new water reservoir. As the villagers are forced to gradually leave their homes, Mara longs to leave the countryside and study in town. However, her father, a Ruthenian farmer, keeps her tied to the family land, which he refuses to let go of despite the end approaching. Mara gradually finds herself in the core of the village community fighting against failing infrastructure, hidden terrors of the authorities, and the incoming flood.
Martin Gonda is a graduate of the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he received his master's degree in Film and TV Directing. His master´s movie PURA VIDA premiered at the Cinéfondation section of the Festival de Cannes 2019. He spent several months at the production company Atelier de Film in cooperation with Caragiale Academy of Theater Arts and Cinematography in Bucharest through the Erasmus Internship Programme, where he worked as an assistant to a producer on various commercial projects and also as the head of programming at Arkadia Short Film Fest. Martin also directed several commercials at various advertisement companies. Now, he is preparing his feature film debut Potopa.
Tomáš Gic
