“The Chambermaid” is a touching romantic melodrama about 15-year-old Anka and wealthy-born Res who is exactly her age, but at the other end of the social ladder.

They both realise that they have found a soulmate in each other – like in many world literature classics. The two of them become best friends and lovers, but a tragedy strikes them during World War I.

For me, it was immediately clear that we just had to curate this Slovak title, which is a romantic historical drama with an outstanding cast, editor, director of photography, and a screenplay adapted by the director on the basis of an original script written by Bratislava native Hana Lasicová. This film just fits perfectly above the curatorial thin red line of the Critics’ Picks.

Niki Nikitin