Texas!!

Thrilled to announce that two shorts by Mailuki Films have been selected to compete at Flatland Film Festival:

The Professional Parent, by Erik Jasaň/ Slovakia & Romania
Vagabond, by Philippe Woodtli/ Switzerland

The festival is held at LHUCA, a vibrant arts center located in the heart of the Lubbock Cultural District.

Festival Dates: September 24-26, 2026 /// Location: LHUCA Firehouse Theatre | 511 Avenue K, Lubbock, TX

Philippe Woodtli about VAGABOND:

What I wanted to tell with this story comes from my fascination with gambling schemes, cons, and the art of misdirection. I’ve always been drawn to the idea that someone can spend years mastering a skill, not to win fairly, but to outsmart the system and take money from a mark with precision. That world has always captivated me, and it’s the kind of story I love watching. With Vagabond, I wanted to show how I would approach a con like this. Not just how to pull it off, but why the con itself is often the easy part. It’s the getaway that really decides everything.

I’m drawn to the gangster world because in that space, only one thing truly matters: trust. Who is really on your side, and who isn’t. The same is true for a card mechanic’s team at the poker table. You need total preparation. You need to know every angle. And most importantly, you need the right partner. If you don’t, things go bad fast.

That’s what I wanted to explore. The precision, the pressure, and the betrayal behind the illusion.

Erik Jasaň about THE PROFESSIONAL PARENT:

I grew up in a household with two Roma children, as my sister became a professional parent. Around 2015, at the same time my sister started working as a professional parent – father, a horrifying event shook Slovakia: the murder of a one-year-old Roma girl by her professional foster father. The autopsy revealed that the child could not have caused the injuries herself – she had bruises on her head, internal bleeding, and torn intestines.
This event affected not only my family, but
Slovak society as a whole.

The tragedy raised questions about the system of professional foster parenting. In Slovakia, it is paid work – professional foster parents take care of children in their own households and receive a monthly salary for it. The majority of children who enter professional foster families are of Roma origin. In eastern Slovakia, where economic hardship has persisted for a long time, becoming a professional foster parent often meant a way out of financial difficulties.

But when people with hidden racist tendencies enter the system, it can end in disaster.
The film is not only about professional foster care, but also about moral choices within a system that offers few alternatives. It is a story that reveals how society actually works, showing that people who think they are not racist often expose their prejudices in everyday life. The film also reflects on how inflation and poverty push families into situations where morality becomes a luxury.
It is a sad and cruel reality, not only in Slovakia.