33 Steps

Original title: 33 krokov

Directed by Šimon Domček

Thirteen years after Milan Daniel suffered a serious head injury in a racially motivated attack, his assailant is set to be released. What feelings does this moment awaken in a traumatized man who, though he survived, will forever suffer the consequences of that fateful day? Straddling the line between fiction and documentary, the feature debut by Slovak directors Šimon and Anna Domček is an exceptionally cohesive mosaic of fragmentary pieces of everyday life, memories, dreams, and subjective perceptions. Besides exploring the experience of someone seeking to escape the shadows of the past – shadows that weigh heavily on future generations as well – the film also takes an unusual approach to the subject of racial intolerance.