Ivetka and the Mountain

Synopsis

Ivetka’s unique story began on August 5, 1990, at the age of 10, when she experienced a Marian apparition on Mount Zvir in northeastern Slovakia. Over the next five years, hundreds of thousands of people visited the pilgrimage site and the girl became an icon for many. Ivetka is 27 years old, looking ahead and at the same time able to understand more deeply the events that have accompanied her life so far.

Country
Czech Republic

Producers
PETR OUKROPEC

Genre
Documentary

Co-producers
Česká televize Brno

Release Date
20. 11. 2008

Screening Formats
DVD

Runtime
84 min

Trailer & Photogallery

Cast & Crew

Director
Vít Janeček

Writer
Vít Janeček

Editor
Hedvika Hansalová

Cinematography
Braňo Pažitka

Sound Designer
Lenka Mikulová, Jiří Melcher

About the film

A documentary film about the spiritual experience of one girl on the Slovak mountain Zvir. On the afternoon of August 5, 1990, three children aged 10, 11, and 7 – Ivetka, Katka, and her brother Miťko – were playing in a grassy clearing on the mountain Zvir in the Ľubovnian highlands in the northeastern part of Slovakia. Suddenly, strange sounds started coming from the forest around. The children hid in a nearby hayloft, but the sounds did not stop. On the contrary, they were getting closer. They couldn’t see anything. The children’s fear grew. It occurred to them to pray, and they prayed to Virgin Mary: “Mary, our Mother, hide us under your mantle…” Suddenly everything stopped and the Virgin Mary was sitting on a bench in the hayloft. Both girls saw her. She accompanied the children to the village. The parents tried to tell them that it didn’t happen, they walked with the children back to that place, and the children met Virgin Mary again. They began to return to that place, gradually also in the presence of many pilgrims. After some time, the church also claimed allegiance to the site. Until August 6, 1995, sightings occurred every month. Hundreds of thousands of people visited the site. Mount Zvir was declared a place of pilgrimage.