Matej Mináč Explained

Matej Mináč (born 1 April 1961) is a Slovak film director. Mináč has directed three films about Sir Nicholas Winton, a Briton who organized the rescue of 669 Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport: the drama All My Loved Ones (1999) (the role of Winton was played by Rupert Graves), the documentary (2002), which won an Emmy Award, the documentary with feature re-enactments Nicky's Family (2011) ^{[1] [2]} and Children Saved from the Nazis: The Story of Sir Nicholas Winton (2016).

Mináč also made a full-length documentary with feature re-enactments Through the Eyes of the Photographer (2015) on the popular Slovak photographer Zuzana Minacova, his mother. His brother is mathematician Ján Mináč.

Awards

• International EMMY AWARD for Best Documentary in 2002 (awarded by the International Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences - New York 2002)
• Nominated for the 2006 News and Documentary EMMY AWARD for HBO
• 2006 Christopher AWARD - New York for an extraordinary humanistic message
• 2009 CFTA AWARD within the Czech Lion for the best documentary from 1993 - 2007
• Wallenberg Medal - together with Patrik Pašš, award for the extraordinarily sensitively processed story of Sir Winton, thanks to which his message inspires people all over the world
• Best Documentary Award - Montreal World Film Festival 2011
• Audience Rights Award - Karlovy Vary IFF 2011
• Audio-Visual Memory Preservation Forum Award - Jerusalem Film Festival 2011
• SIGNIS Award World Catholic Association for Communication, uniting 140 countries, for the promotion and dissemination of human values - 64th PRIX ITALIA - Turin
• FIAT / IFTA (Achievement Award) for the best use of archives - British Film Institute, London 2012
• Grand Prix to director Matej Mináč for the discovering and human-deep theme of the film Nicky's Family - 52nd IFF of Films for Children and Youth Zlín - Czech Republic
• Award - David's Camera for the best music - Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, Poland
• Shoresh Audience Award - UK Jewish Film Festival, London, UK
• Audience Award - Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Documentary Feature Film 2012 - Sedona Int´l Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Documentary Feature 2012 - Atlanta Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Film 2012 - Charlotte Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Documentary 2012 - Denver Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Documentary Film 2012 - AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Film 2012 - Houston Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Award - Best Documentary Film -Hartford Jewish Film Festival
• Audience Award - Best Documentary 2012 - Pittsburgh Jewish Film Festival
• Audience Award - Best Film 2012 - Rockland Int´l Jewish Film Festival, USA
• Audience Award for Best Documentary - Zagreb Jewish Film Festival 2012, Croatia
• Award for the best director for the masterful use of narrative techniques, where the film story is presented through the personal perspective of the director - MECEFF festival - Romania
• Award of the Mayor of Piešťany - IFF Piešťany - Cinematik - 2011
• Ota Hofman Award of the Children's Film Festival and Television Festival in Ostrov - 2001
• Special jury prize for the work with the most significant moral accent
• Ota Hofman Children's Film and Television Festival - Ostrov - 2001
• Slovak Film Critics Award - in the category of Slovak feature and medium-length documentary with its premiere in 2011, Slovakia
• Creative Award for Film and Documentary Production - Annual National Creative Awards of the Slovak Film Association, the Union of Slovak Television Producers and the Literary Fund, Slovakia
• Audience Award - Best Film 2012, Scottsdale International Film Festival, USA
• GRAND PRIX - Best Film Festival, XVII International TV Festival Bar, Montenegro
• The best collection of films - Award for Czech Television, part of the collection is Nicky's family, XVII International TV Festival Bar, Montenegro
• Audience Award - Best Film, Three Rivers Film Festival 2012, USA
• Best Documentary Audience Award, Dayton Jewish International Film Festival 2013, USA
• Audience Award - Best Film - 10th European Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2013
• Russian Journalists Association Award - Yalta, 2013
• Audience Award - Best Documentary, Jewish Arts & Film Festival of Fairfield County 2013
• Award for Best Documentary, Victoria Film Festival 2014
• SPECIAL AWARD for director and ASPIM EUROPA AWARD at Torino
• International film festival The Spirits of the Earth - 2014
• FITES Award - TRILOBIT (Czech Film and Television Association)
• IGRIC Award (Slovak Film Association, Union of Slovak Television Producers)
• Jury Prize - Troia International Film Festival - Portugal
• Nine Gates Festival Award
• First prize - Warsaw Jewish Film Festival - Poland
• Spirit Award - Pacific Jewish Film Festival - USA
• Audience Awards: Washington Jewish Film Festival, Miami Jewish Film Festival
• Troia Int´l Film Festival - Portugal - Jury Prize,
• Coachella Valley's Festival - Best Film (USA)
• Grand Prix - Int´l Film Festival Sedona, USA;
• Czech lion for Jiří Bartoška for the best supporting role,
• IGRIC 2000 Award of the Slovak Film Association
• Audience Awards: Int´t Palm Springs Film Festival - USA (rated by the audience as the second best film of 180 feature films, Final Pilsen, Washington Jewish Film Festival, São Paulo Jewish Film Festival, Festivals of Festivals - Palm Springs (2001), Würzburg Film Festival (Germany, 2002), Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (2002)
• AWARD - CAMERA OF DAVID, best documentary and
• MAIN PRIZE - for the 13th Warsaw Jewish Film Festival (November 2015)
• GOLDEN REMI AWARD for Best Documentary at the 49th Annual International Film Festival - WORLDFEST HOUSTON

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z95s1 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001291/?ref_=tt_cl_t_1

Notes and References

1. Book: Smith, Ian Hayden . International Film Guide 2012 . 2012 . 978-1908215017 . 101 .
2. Web site: Nicky's Family: UK Jewish Film . https://web.archive.org/web/20111108080346/http://www.ukjewishfilm.org/films/nickys-family . dead . 2011-11-08 . 2012-04-15 . ukjewishfilm .