By a Sharp Knife

Based on true events, Slovak director Teodor Kuhn addresses the powerlessness of an ordinary citizen in a dysfunctional justice system. After the brutal murder of his son by neo-Nazis, a father must watch as the perpetrators walk free thanks to their connections to the judiciary and organized crime. He is sucked deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of corruption and indifferent authorities. Influenced by Eastern European Social Realism, "rising and talented cinematographer Denisa Buranová (Little Harbor) stands out especially with her interior shots of the institutional buildings. The outdated brutalist labyrinthine corridors become a symbol in the struggle against an impersonal judicial machinery into which the father charges onward with masochistic verve." (screenanarchy.com)

Keywords

  • Arthouse
  • Arthouse Highlights
  • Award Winning
  • Sooner Exclusives
  • Sooner Exclusives: Stories that Matter
  • Storyline: Sons
  • corruption
  • eastern europe
  • politics

Actors

  • Roman Luknár
  • Ela Lehotská
  • Dávid Hartl
  • Miroslav Krobot
  • Marián Mitaš
  • Jana Oľhová

Director

  • Teodor Kuhn

Crime, Drama


1h 29min


16+

SK


ES

FR

SV

IT

PT

EN

DE

PL

Slovakia
2019
Gripping legal drama about injustice and corruption, filmed in the style of Eastern European social realism.

Gripping legal drama about injustice and corruption, filmed in the style of Eastern European social realism.


Based on true events, Slovak director Teodor Kuhn addresses the powerlessness of an ordinary citizen in a dysfunctional justice system.


After the brutal murder of his son by neo-Nazis, a father must watch as the perpetrators walk free thanks to their connections to the judiciary and organized crime. He is sucked deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of corruption and indifferent authorities.


Influenced by Eastern European Social Realism, "rising and talented cinematographer Denisa Buranová (Little Harbor) stands out especially with her interior shots of the institutional buildings.


The outdated brutalist labyrinthine corridors become a symbol in the struggle against an impersonal judicial machinery into which the father charges onward with masochistic verve." (screenanarchy.com)

Festivals

Cast & Crew