The organizers of the Zlín Film Festival for Children and Youth erected a statue of the Golden Slipper in front of the congress center, May 31, 2023, Zlín.
Zlín – Today, the organizers of the Zlín Film Festival erected a five-meter statue of the Golden Slipper in front of the congress center, the seat of the festival. It is a symbol of the event, in a reduced form the winners of the competition categories and other awards receive it. The festival will start on Thursday, the preparations are at their peak, festival spokesperson Kateřina Martykánová told ČTK today.
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The statue of the Golden Shoe as the festival's main prize was created 18 years ago by Zlín sculptor Radim Hanke. His model was his wife, captured in a photograph as a little girl, with a domesticated jackdaw sitting on her shoulder. “She turns her head towards her, it captures astonishment, at the same time admiration for the bird. And I realized that the bird is shaped like a slipper. So it was this photograph that led me to the motif of the entire statuette. The statue then consists of a simple silhouette of a girl on roll of film. The bird on the shoulder is basically a slipper,” Hanke said.
The large slipper statue that stands in front of the convention center was created later. The initiator was the president of the festival, Čestmír Vančura, who wanted the theme of the festival to be visible. “So there was an order to enlarge the statue of the slipper. Its five-meter form was not to be cast from bronze, but was created from fiberglass with an internal steel structure, which allows for better handling of the statue. The material imitates polished bronze and today even captures a patina like bronze . And by the fact that the sculpture is hidden after the festival ends, the material is able to last quite a long time,” said Hanke. He created the large statue from two parts, it consists of a plinth and a silhouette of a girl.
Hanke is also the author of the commemorative medal for the festival half-marathon, on which the runner Emil Zátopek is depicted. The 60-year-old Hanke also created the statue of Zátopka, which is in Zlín's Youth Stadium, he is the author of the statues of Jan Antonín Bata and Tomáš Bata in the center of Zlín, as well as the statue of John Paul II. at the chapel in Bukovany near Kyjov. He is working on a monument to unborn children, which will be in Vyškov, and a statue of the nun Maria Restituta Kafková, who was executed by the Nazis.
The organizers traditionally build the statue of the Golden Shoe the day before the start of the festival. “It's such a symbolic opening,” said Martykánová. Organizers are finalizing preparations. “We have decorated the congress center, there is intensive communication with guests, arrivals and departures are dealt with and other services around them. We have completed training for volunteers in terms of security, the novelty is that we also provided training in communication and care for visually impaired citizens, ” said the spokeswoman. The city is decorated, partner stands are being prepared, final preparations are being completed, the spokeswoman said.
Over 2,200 guests are accredited, this is not the final number. The festival provides accommodation for 600 of them. “We cooperate with ten hotels and guesthouses in Zlín. The capacities that we had set aside for the film festival are already exhausted,” said Martykánová. Guests are transported by a fleet of electric cars. Guests from Japan, South Korea and Canada are expected. The organizing team has about 200 members, 120 volunteers help them throughout the week. Another hundred volunteers will be added on Sunday, when the festival half-marathon will be held. This year is the 63rd year of the festival, it will last until June 7.
