This year, a total of 21 films will be premiered at Jihlava IDFF. These premieres will include 13 Czech films competing in the Czech Joy section. We will also present 5 international, 9 European, 29 East European and 14 Central European premieres. The Opus Bonum section will host the world premiere of films such as The Uprising,a compilation of amateur videos from the Arab Spring. The Between the Seas section will feature, among others, the world premiere of the Latvian film My Family Tree, depicting the dramatic history of Northern Europe through the story of one ordinary family. Festival visitors will also see world premieres of Czech films such as Show! by Bohdan Bláhovec about a business dream – the creation of the girl band 5Angels, or a documentary Eugenic Minds by Pavel Štingl about the ideals of eugenics in the hands of the Nazis. Same River Twice, a documentary about a duo of filmmakers who set out in the footsteps of the Scottish explorer John McGregor, will also hold its international premiere at the festival. Moreover, East European audience will have the first chance to see Dark Matter by Italian directors Massimo D'Anolfi and Martina Parenti about an area that piques curiosity being shrouded in the haze of danger and death, and resembling the Zone from the renowned art film Stalker.
New Synergy of Czech Television and ARTE Presented at Jihlava
The launch of the new Czech Television’s cultural channel CT art opened the so-far broadest and most comprehensive space for the presentation of domestic as well as international art works. In the area of culture, Czech Television strives to cooperate with renowned partners who would guarantee high quality of its programmes. The recent contract with the French-German TV ARTE G.E.I.E., one of the original inspirations for the overall concept of CT art, was therefore heralded as a great success. Czech Television is thus only the third TV station in Central and Eastern Europe that TV ARTE chose to cooperate with. A contract that is to open doors to future cooperation of both these institutions on particular projects will be presented at the Jihlava IDFF by Petr Dvořák, General Director of Czech Television, and the documentary film editor at ARTE, Thema Madeleine Avramoussis. In association with Czech Television, the Jihlava IDFF has also prepared a new programme section entitled CT Documentary that will introduce festival visitors to documentary films and projects created or produced by Czech Television.
Visegrad Accelerator – Meet Film Fund Representatives
On Friday, October 25, the 2nd edition of the Visegrad Accelerator will be launched with the aim to interconnect film professionals from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland who will be the guests of this year’s festival. This year’s edition will hold a presentation of four national film funds that are the key supporters of creative documentary films in Central Europe. The meeting will feature directors of national film funds from V4 countries, namely Agnes Havas (Hungary), Agnieszka Odorowicz (Poland), Helena Bezděk Fraňková (Czech Republic), Martin Šmatlák (Slovakia). This public panel discussion could initiate further cooperation and co-productions of Central European filmmakers.
Don’t Miss our “HBO Europe Presents” Discussion Panel
Two representatives of HBO Europe, Hanka Kastelicová and Tereza Polachová, will first introduce the participants of the Industry panel to the possible ways of collaboration in the co-production of documentary films, and together with Tomáš Hrubý of nutprodukce, they will subsequently illustrate these basics on a case study of the film Great Night by Petr Hátle. The documentary Great Night will be shown in its world premiere at this year’s edition of the festival and it is featured in the Czech Joy section. HBO Europe’s original production started off in 2004, tackling controversial issues in its documentary works such as: Erotic Nation (2009, Peter Begányi), Generation Singles (2011, Jana Počtová), The Story of Mr. Love (2013, Dagmar Smržová), etc. HBO Europe also produces fiction projects such se the debuts Twosome (2009, Jaroslav Fuit) and DonT Stop (2012, Richard Řeřicha), the drama Burning Bush (2013, Agnieszka Holland) or two seasons of Terapie (2011, 2013).
Emerging Producers vol. 3
Filip Antoni Malinowski founded Soleil Film, a film studio in Vienna. His latest documentary he made as a director received numerous prizes and was released in cinemas in Austria and Poland. Soleil Film is currently working on four feature-length projects, including the co-production with Jiří Konečný called My Animated Childhood,about socialist cartoon series. Madara Melberga from Latvia is a producer of several fiction and documentary shorts. She is working as a scriptwriter and participates on the creative side of projects. FA Filma, a production company she has joined as a producer, is currently preparing three new projects. The Italian producer Federico Minetti first started working in post-production, only to become a producer at Effendemfilm, for which he produced numerous documentaries, among them the international winning documentary Standing Army. Nina Pehlivanova comes from Bulgaria and obtained qualification through courses and practical experience in the field of production of documentary films. Nina works for ARS Digital Studio. Her new project focuses on adopted children and their search for their own identity. Aline Schmid works as a producer for the Swiss company Intermezzo Films. The most successful film of her production career is the documentary Cantos, a winner of the special mention at Visions du Reel. Julianna Ugrin from Hungary started to work in the documentary film field in 2008. In 2011, she founded an independent production company Éclipse Film. She is currently working on several projects, including a documentary about Hungarian gay community entitled Gay Men Straight Dictatorships. The Lithuanian producer Dagne Vildziunaite is an owner of the Just a moment production company, with filmography including six documentary films, screened at major international film festivals. In addition to her feature film debut, she is currently working on the documentary Five: KGB. Emerging Producers vol. 3.
The Second Ex Oriente Film Workshop Introduces its Tutors and Open Programme
The Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) traditionally bringsthe second session of Ex Oriente Film workshop to Jihlava as well as 14 tutors – important figures of the documentary filmmaking from all over the world. Both film industry professionals and spectators will have the chance to meet them within the open programme.
One of the highlights of this year’s programme will be a Master Class by the renowned and award-winning American cinematographer and director Kirsten Johnson. She will familiarize the audience with her approach to the visual style and its power to strengthen the storytellingaspect in documentary film. Another special Ex Oriente guest will be the acclaimed Israeli filmmaker and essayist, Eyal Sivan. In his Master Class, he will focus on using film as a tool of activism, change of historical perception and political usage of memory. His Master Class will be preceded by the screening of his film The Specialist – Portrait of a Modern Criminal – a unique courtroom drama recorded during the trial of Adolf Eichmann, in 1961, in Jerusalem. Both Master Classes will be organized in cooperation with Jihlava IDFF. Ex Oriente Film workshop programme will also include the lectures of experienced professionals in the fields of distribution, legal aspects of international co-production or new trends in digital documentary and its funding. These lectures will be presented by the Danish producer Helle Faber, German producer and distributor Stefan Kloos, British consultant Nick Ware or French sales agent Anais Clanet. The complete list of tutors as well as the open programme can be found at www.dokweb.net.
Follow the Lives of the Blind at DAFilms.cz
Watch documentary films about the life of the blind and help us increase awareness of the international White Cane Day on 15 October. From 14 to 20 October, you can stream or download five thematic films at DAFilms.com for free! What is it like to live in the dark? How do those who cannot rely on their eyesight “see” the world? All of the five unique documentaries in our selection (Blind Loves by Juraj Lehotský, The Unseen by Miroslav Janek, Take a Look by Adam Palenta,...) allow an insight into the world of the blind and uncover a part of the darkness and uncertainty in which we find ourselves. A view of artistic work, the acceleration of the global society and problems concerning family and romantic relationships are associated with powerful stories of the protagonists of one documentary drama, one short and three feature documentary films.
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