The festival takes place in a popular spa town. There are many attractive walks to be taken in the area, plenty of shops and interesting restaurants. It is just an hour north of Bratislava with good train and bus connections. Special UNICA buses run between Bratislava Airport and the town.
Dom umenia (Arts Centre) photo by Martin Hlauka (Pescan)
At the railway station. photo by Peter Zelizňák
Colonade Bridge. photo by Bjalek Michal
The Crutch Breaker sculpted by Robert Kühmayer. Photo by Peter Zelizňák.
Everyone can visit UNICA to see the world's best non-commercial short films. Go to Dom Umenia in Piešťany, Slovakia. There is no charge for viewing films.
For the full experience, buy a Congress Card for the excursions and special events.
The Opening Banquet
We start with a formal ceremony centred on raising the UNICA flag in the cinema. There will be welcomes from VIPs and entertainment including an organ recital by Martin Bako. The evening ends with a formal banquet.
Bratislava (whole day excursion) Sunday 24th August
Half-Day Excursion
Details not yet announced.The Closing Banquet
At the end of the week is the prize-giving and closing ceremony. The UNICA flag will be passed to the Russian federation, who are hosting UNICA 2015. The entertainment includes ”The breeze blowing “ - a programme of folk music and singing by Lúčnica, a Slovak National Folklore ensemble. Their artistic director and commentator: Martin Sleziakand will speak. This too ends with a formal banquet - which can become quite emotional as friends say farewell.
At no extra charge ...
There will be a presentation from the hosts of next year's UNICA during the week. This will involve a promotional film and perhaps a drinks reception.
There is a meeting of the Friends of UNICA, a group which celebrates UNICA in a sociable way.
The General Assembly of UNICA at which decisions about the work of the organisation are taken.Everyone may attend but only official representatives of member federations may vote. For more details see here.
World Minute Movie Cup
This is a fun competition for films up to 60 seconds long.
Each country - whether affiliated to UNICA or not
- may enter one videofilm of up to 60 seconds. Countries which
reached the final competition of 16 films in 2013 may enter two
films for 2014:
AUT, BGR, CHE, CZE, DEU, GBR, GEO, HRV, LUX, NLD, SVK, UKR
Entry forms for the World Minute Movie Cup must be received by 1st July 2014.
16 films are selected from the entries and presented in a series of knock-out rounds. The host is usually Zeljko Balog from Croatia though in 2013 Dr. Georg Schoerner from Austria stood in for him.
Pictures from Wikimedia Commons