Slovakia

In 2024, several overseas productions landed in Slovakia, including Afterburn, a post-apocalyptic science-fiction feature directed by JJ Perry and written by Matt Johnson, which filmed in Brati­slava and the surrounding countryside for just shy of two months.

Also arriving last year was A Prayer For The Dying, directed by Dara Van Dusen for Norway’s Eye Eye Pictures, which was structured as a Norway-UK-Sweden co-production.

Eye Eye Pictures founder and producer Dyveke Bjørkly Graver brought the survival story — set on the American frontier during a deadly epidemic in 1870s Wisconsin — to Slovakia, shooting for 25 days in August and September last year.

“We had exteriors and also built a small village on a field outside Bratislava where we shot both interiors and exteriors,” says Graver. “Then we had around 10 days of studio shoot at the end.”

Eye Eye brought with them cinemato­grapher Kate McCullough and production designer Hubert Pouille, who had followed the project for a long time, with the remaining heads of department coming from Slovakia or the Czech Republic. “We had a great local Slovakian crew,” notes Graver. “The costume department did amazing work. At the time we went into production, Slovakia was the place where we felt we would get the most value from the funds we had.”

While the Slovakian film and TV industry is not as developed as those in neighbours Hungary and the Czech Republic, producers benefit from the enthusiasm and willingness of local crew to go the extra yard to facilitate productions. 

In line with the move to extend the tax rebate system to help high-end television projects, Swedish TV miniseries Faithless, directed by Tomas Alfredson, shot in Slovakia, as did Second World War docudrama The Swedish Connection directed by Therese Ahlbeck and Marcus Olsson.

Other projects filming in Slovakia in 2025 include the $6.4m (€6m) Convoy (working title) directed by Henrik M Dahlsbakken and produced by Martin Sund­land, Catrin Gundersen and Thea Benedikte Karlsen for Fantefilm Fiksjon, with support from the Norwegian Film Institute, in collaboration with Film i Väst and FilmInvest.

Slovakia aims to grow its capacity to host overseas productions and has an ever-deepening craft and crew talent pool.

Permits usually take about two days to secure for most locations, and about a week for downtown shoots.

A4 Studio in Bratislava has a stage space measuring 70x30 metres, a Spidercam camera system, underground corridors for cables and parking for 600 cars. Other sites include Koliba Studios, Shining Film Studio and Jumpcat, but most productions come for the locations. 

Slovakia’s small multilingual workforce is lower priced than those in other European countries but not everyone speaks English, with Slovakian and Russian the two most common languages. 

Most equipment rental companies are in Bratislava, offering grip equipment, generators, cameras, sound and light equipment, as well as cranes. Other kit can be rented from neighbouring Czech Republic, Hungary or Austria.

Slovakia is a member of the European Union and participates in the Schengen Agreement. Its currency is the euro

Bratislava has direct flights from cities across Europe, including Paris, Madrid and London. The mid and north of the country are mountainous (Carpathian Curve), with lowlands in the south and east. The Danube River connects to Vienna and Budapest.

First contact: Zuzana Bielikova, head, Slovak Film Commission zuzana.bielikova@filmcommission.sk