“Standing Still”, Interview with director Monika Mahútová

July 13, 2023

Monika Mahútová, director of Standing Still: “the film talks about the bond between a mother and a daughter, the sacrifices and the fear of repeating the same mistakes”

"Standing Still", Interview with director Monika Mahútová Beatrice Trasarti

Podcast | Download

On the occasion of the partnership between FRED and the EFP FUTURE FRAMES Generation NEXT of European Cinema, we interviewed Slovak director Monika Mahútová on Standing Still, her short feature film talking about the bond between a mother and a daughter, written by Mahútová with Lucia Ditte. The film portrays and explores this bond and relationship from both the mother Hana and the daughter Anna points of view and it was the director and her co-writer’s way of looking back at their personal relationship with their mothers. Mahútová and Ditte are currently working on their first long feature film.

Standing Still:Twenty-seven-year-old Anna lives with her mother Hana in a small town on the Slovak Hungarian border. Hana tries to protect her daughter so that she will not repeat her own mistakes in life, but instead of earning her daughter’s gratitude, Hana’s actions fill Anna with a sense of frustration and lack of fulfilment. When the young Gergej enters her life, mother and daughter are forced to reassess their relationship… Slovak director Monika Mahútová’s stylistically inventive graduate film looks at the bond between mother and daughter with understanding and subtle humor.

Plot

Twenty-seven-year-old Anna lives with her mother Hana in a small town on the Slovak-Hungarian border. Hana tries to protect her daughter so that she will not repeat her own mistakes in life, but instead of earning her daughter’s gratitude, Hana’s actions fill Anna with a sense of frustration and lack of fulfilment. When the young Gergej enters her life, mother and daughter are forced to reassess their relationship… Slovak director Monika Mahútová’s stylistically inventive graduate film looks at the bond between mother and daughter with understanding and subtle humor.

Written by: Beatrice Trasarti

Guest

Monika Mahútová

Film

Standing Still

Festival

Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Rate it

Channel posts

Interview

Hallucinations Collective

Interview with programmer Éric Peretti at the Hallucinations Collective Film Festival

March 30, 2026

Discover the Hallucination Collective Film Festival in this interview with programmer Éric Peretti: unveiling underground vampire flicks and Mexican exploitation gems in Lyon’s most daring cinematic showcase.

Interview

BFI Flare Festival

Interview with the writer and researcher Joss Morfitt at the London BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Festival

March 26, 2026

Discover the story of BFI Flare’s history through the eyes of Joss Morfitt, researcher and writer, revealing how queer cinema and London's LGBTQ+ culture have evolved over 40 years.

Interview

Bari International Film Festival

“A War on Women”, interview with director Raha Shirazi

March 24, 2026

At the Bari International Film & TV Festival, director Raha Shirazi reflects on memory, resistance and the power of Iranian women’s voices in her documentary "A War on Women".