Mara dreams of leaving her village just as a reservoir threatens to swallow it. Slovakia’s Oscar submission and a Czech coproduction, this historical drama comes to New York with director Martin Gonda, lead actress Sára Chripáková, and producers Katarína Krnáčová and Tomáš Gič, who will all take part in a post-screening Q&A.
TICKETSFlood / dir. Martin Gonda / 2025 / historical drama / Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, Belgium / 103 min.
In Czechoslovakia in 1980, Mara hopes to study in the city and become a pilot. Her widowed father expects her to stay and work the family farm. When plans for a reservoir force their Ruthenian village to prepare for evacuation, their conflicting hopes for the future become inseparable from the loss of home.
Set in eastern Slovakia, Gonda’s debut feature explores family, identity, and displacement through the bond between father and daughter. The film won the SIGNIS Prize at the 2025 Mar del Plata International Film Festival and is Slovakia’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Oscars.
In person: Cast & filmmakers Q&A
Following the screening, four members of the Flood team will discuss making the film and bringing the history of the displaced community to the screen:
Martin Gonda — director and co-writer
Sára Chripáková — lead actress
Katarína Krnáčová — producer
Tomáš Gič — producer
Martin Gonda studied film and television directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. His short film Pura Vida premiered in the Cinéfondation section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Flood, his first feature, grew out of childhood visits to the area around the Starina reservoir, where villages had been submerged.
