THE PROFESSIONAL PARENT has racked up 44 official selections at international film festivals,
including eight official Oscar®-qualifying festivals, across 23 countries. The film last screened
in NYC in 2024 at the Canadian Screen Award Qualifying New York Shorts International Film Festival,
the largest short film festival in New York, where it won Best International Film.
The film is screening at Cinema Village (22 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003).
Screenings happening daily, today (June 24), tomorrow (June 25), and Thursday (June 26) EST.
“The Professional Parent” (14 min, 2024) by Erik Jasaň is a haunting, socially charged short film that exposes the complex underbelly of foster care for Roma children in rural Slovakia. Shot in a chilly Eastern European palette and structured into just 12 long takes, this tight, documentary‑style narrative immerses the viewer into Ingrid’s morally fraught world.
Plot & Characters: Ingrid (Ela Lehotská) is a struggling single mother caring for her biological daughter and an ailing grandmother. Faced with dire financial strain, she becomes a paid “professional parent” to a Roma girl, Samanth. As Ingrid juggles the needs of two children and resentments in her household, her latent prejudice surfaces. What begins as economic desperation turns into emotional neglect toward Samantha.
Martinka (Klára Sviteková), Ingrid’s daughter, represents innocence and quiet hope. She reaches out to Samantha with youthful openness — a potential seed of generational change.
Direction & Style: Jasaň frames the story subjectively, through long, intimate takes filmed from Ingrid’s perspective. This technique enhances emotional immediacy and forces us to witness events as she does). Cinematographer Tudor Mircea, editor Cătălin Cristuțiu, and a strong ensemble bring naturalism and subtle depth to every scene.