Collosseum in Košice in the film War of the Cops
The film was directed by Rudolf Biermann, based on a story and screenplay by Arpád Soltész. The film was produced in Slovakia in 2024. The main and minor roles are played by Alexander Bárta, Juraj Loj, Patrik "Rytmus" Vrbovský, Róbert Jakab, Marián Mitaš, Anežka Petrová, Jakub Štáfek, Ady Hajdu, Barbora Švidraňová, Annamária Janeková, Jevgenij Libezňuk, Erik Ollé, Jakub Rybárik, and Branislav Bystriansky. The film also takes place on Vrátna Ulica street in Košice in several time sequences of 22nd, 36th and 88th minute.
Cop War (2024) is one of the biggest film projects that was both shot and set in Košice. Based on the successful book Rage - Then in the East by journalist Arpád Soltész, it draws on the atmosphere of the turbulent 1990s and the setting of the Eastern Slovak mafia. Miky Miko (Alexander Bárta), a reclusive police operative, can swim quite well in the milieu of warring gangs, corrupt police, and local businessmen. This world has taught him not to trust anyone and that is why he has learned to work alone. From above, however, he is assigned a police partner, Igor Molnár (Juraj Loj), who somehow doesn't fit into the equation of a mutually functioning marriage. A marriage of the local mafia working quietly with the undercover and corrupt police. Increasingly, despite initial resentment, they find they have a lot in common. They both want to change the meaning of their work, if their fight against crime has so far been going in vain. The film, directed and produced by Rudolf Biermann, casts Patrik "Rytmus" Vrbovský in the lead negative role, and Alexander Bárta, a native of Košice, in the role of the policeman Mika. The film's numerous extras and minor roles were played by more than three hundred non-professional film enthusiasts, who joined the shooting free of charge, for a symbolic euro or for an invitation to the preview screening. No other film has ever managed anything like it.
Collosseum, a club on the Dominican Square in Košice (at 70 Vrátna Street), was also an important film location, featuring a disco and an indoor terrace where the mafia meeting under the leadership of Berci (Patrik Rytmus Vrbovský) was taking place. The film's police raid also took place here. The variegated interior is unmistakable in the location of the dancefloor, the decoration. and the inner terrace. During the shooting of the film, it was one of the most striking extras for the people of Košice. The film was also shot at other locations in the wider center of Košice and in Šaca.
Tomáš Galierik
