The documentary about online predators has helped the Czech box office to reawaken after local cinemas started reopening with restrictions in place. The shuttering of cinemas following the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted the theatrical run of the Czech documentary Caught in the Net (co-produced by Slovakia) in domestic cinemas. Directed by Barbora Chalupová and Vít Klusák, the doc captures the unsavoury details of the online abuse of minors and became the talk of the town during its crowdfunding and pre-premiere promo campaigns. After the original premiere on 27 February, it took only seven days for Caught in the Net to become the most-visited Czech documentary at the local box office, dethroning the movie that had occupied the number-one spot for years, Citizen Havel by Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek. In late April, Chalupová and Klusák’s film had a dry run for its big-screen comeback, as Caught in...
Partycrashers is an on-going series of video dispatches from critics Michael Pattison and Neil Young.The stars align! Eventually: though we’ve notched up 40 film festivals between us this year (16 for me, contrary to the miscount offered in the video below), the fourth edition of Porto/Post/Doc was only the third we’d attended together—and the first proper opportunity to record a dispatch of this kind. As parties go, this one was easy to crash: ostensibly an event dedicated to nonfiction, Post/Doc, held in beautifully distinctive Porto, was also open to feature films such as The Beguiled, Lucky, and 120 Bpm, as well as more or less more straightforward documentaries like Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk’s An Inconvenient Sequel and Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.The primary source of interest for us, however, was the festival’s main bulk: its competition, including Gürcan Keltek’s prize-winner Meteors,...
- 12/15/2017
- MUBI
The final film of Jan Nemec, who died in March, to play in the main competition.Scroll down for competition line-ups
The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.
The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.
The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.
Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.
Debut features...
The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.
The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.
The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.
Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.
Debut features...
- 5/31/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Mel Gibson to film special trailer for the festival; plans for Lebanese cinema focus and tributes to late Us actor John Cazale and Chris Penn.
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled plans for its 50th ‘annivarysary’ edition, set to run July 3-11.
The jubilee edition will include a look at recent Lebanese cinema, a retrospective of late Soviet-Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko’s work and tributes to Us actors John Cazale and Chris Penn.
Actor-director Mel Gibson will also film a special trailer for the festival, set to be shot in Los Angeles in early May. The Lethal Weapon star received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at last year’s Kviff.
Gibson continues a tradition that sees the recipients of this award feature in a short trailer for the following festival. It will be written and directed by Martin Krejčí, who has collaborated with Ivan Zachariáš since the beginning of the...
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled plans for its 50th ‘annivarysary’ edition, set to run July 3-11.
The jubilee edition will include a look at recent Lebanese cinema, a retrospective of late Soviet-Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko’s work and tributes to Us actors John Cazale and Chris Penn.
Actor-director Mel Gibson will also film a special trailer for the festival, set to be shot in Los Angeles in early May. The Lethal Weapon star received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at last year’s Kviff.
Gibson continues a tradition that sees the recipients of this award feature in a short trailer for the following festival. It will be written and directed by Martin Krejčí, who has collaborated with Ivan Zachariáš since the beginning of the...
- 4/28/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The 18th annual Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival takes place 23-28 October 2014. From over 2,800 submissions, the programming committee has selected over 200 films from 42 countries, including 57 world, international or European premieres. These premieres include 10 Czech films in competition in the Czech Joy section.
Over the course of its existence, the Jihlava festival has become an indispensable Czech and worldwide documentary event, and an active contributor to the promotion and distribution of documentary films. The Jihlava festival is a co-founder and member of Doc Alliance, a prestigious union of seven important European documentary festivals.
Program – Year Eighteen
As in past years, the largest celebration of original documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe will present a diverse range of Czech and foreign films, with many world, international, European, and Czech premieres.
“This year’s festival is a true tribute to the artistic and independent film scene. This tribute will take place in the presence of such special guests as Kidlat Tahimik (which translates to “Quiet Lightning”), founder of independent Filipino cinema, whose films from the 1970s were declared by Werner Herzog to be among the most free to come out during that time, and noted Chinese director Wang Bing, winner of awards at festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Yamagata and Marseilles,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.
The Face Of The Festival
The central motif of the 18th festival is a stark black-and-white symbol of a factory. It’s not only the dominant visual feature of the festival, but has also found its way into the films themselves. The poster was designed by artist, educator and publisher Juraj Horváth. This year’s festival trailer was created by the legend of Czech and world cinematography Jan Němec. This was his very first experience with this format; the intensity of the final form, however, can be felt in his short statement on the trailer’s filming:
“There are no ‘small’ or ‘big’ films. Twenty seconds expresses concern about the possible demise of film. I sound the alarm myself and the shadow of my hand is my signature.”
1. Organization And Awards
The festival is organized by the Jsaf civic association. In 2013, the festival issued more than 2,900 festival passes. Of these, 782 were for film professionals and festival guests from the Czech Republic and abroad, and 156 were for journalists. The festival screenings were attended by a total of more than 30,000 viewers.
The following awards will be presented as part of the 2014 Jihlava Idff:
· 2014 Best International Documentary Film Award (Opus Bonum competition)
· 2014 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film Award (Between the Seas competition)
· 2014 Best Czech Documentary Film Award (Czech Joy competition)
· 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film Award (Fascinations competition)
· 2014 Best Debut Film Award (First Lights competition)
· 2014 Best Short Film Award (Short Joy competition)
· 2014 Contribution to World Cinematography
2014 Spectators Prize 2014 Respekt Award for the best television or video reportage · Silver Eye Award in the categories of short, mid-length, and feature documentary
(part of the East Silver market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film)
· 2014 Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
· 2014 Audience Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
2. New At The 18th Jihlava Idff
This year’s festival brings two new competitions: the former non-competition section Short Joy, focusing on short films, has received competition status, and in the new competition First Lights, the jury will choose the best debut film from the Opus Bonum, Between the Seas and Czech Joy sections. And of course there’s our annual retrospective of distinctive personalities and unique thematic sections.
The Complete Letters
This unique project is the brainchild of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in which five pairs of world-renowned directors exchanged audio-visual “letters”. These letters will be presented at Jihlava in their Eastern European premiere. Filmmakers such as meditative artist Naomi Kawase, legend of the New York avant-garde Jonas Mekas, “lone wolf” Albert Serra and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing invite viewers into their private lives and into the secrets of their artistic poetics.
“It’s remarkable to see how much each letter reflects the personal style of each of the directors. Never have two directors with such radically different styles come together like this,” commented festival programmer David Čeněk.
Forgotten Filmmaker JIŘÍ PolÁK
This photographer, director and sensitive individual who escaped to the “place where dreams are made real” – the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf prior to the August occupation of Czechoslovakia – is one of the forgotten figures of Czech cinema. Jiří Polák was able to film Hospital in Kuks, but did not enjoy any domestic recognition. After his emigration and short stays in Vienna and Switzerland, he accepted film assignments in Iran.
Tribute: Alain Resnais
“Renowned French director passed away on 1 March 2014 at the age of 91. In memory of his work, we have prepared two screenings of his lesser-known or completely unknown films. He himself was instrumental to an unprecedented extent to the development of documentary filmmaking in France, and showed its new stylistic possibilities,” says festival programmer David Čeněk about this unique presentation of Resnais’ (mainly) early work. Alain Resnais The majority of Resnais’ works being presented at this year’s Jihlava Idff have been shown only a few times in France, and are being screened in the Czech Republic for the first time ever.
Retrospective: Kidlat Tahimik
A special guest at this year’s Jihlava festival will be the “father of Filipino independent film” – director, actor, screenwriter and producer Kidlat Tahimik, the founder of the so-called Filipino New Wave and an influential commentator on post-colonialism and power imbalances throughout the world, praised in the West by Werner Herzog when he said that [Tahimik’s] films from the 1970s are among some of the most free works on film of their time.
3. Jurors
The jury for the competition section Opus Bonum traditionally consists of just one person – a notable personality from world cinema. This year, this honour has been bestowed on a significant figure from the Yugoslav Black Wave – Želimir Žilnik.
The best film in the Between the Seas section will be chosen by:
· French film theoretician Raymond Bellour
· Spanish director Albert Serra
American artist Deborah Stratman Artist Kateřina Šedá Czech Joy Jury:
Poet Petr Hruška Former director of Czech Television Ivo Mathé Film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková Documentary filmmaker Bohdan Bláhovec The winner of the experimental competition Fascination will be determined by the Austrian master of found footage Peter Tscherkassky and his wife, filmmaker Eve Heller.
The historic first judging of the Short Joy section will be conducted by members of the art group Rafani.
4. Competition Sections
Czech Joy
Competition for the Best Czech Documentary Film 2014.
A prestigious selection of new Czech documentaries, including 10 world premieres. Films include Daniel’s World (Veronika Lišková), a look at the last taboo of modern society – paedophilia. The delightful film Long Live Hunting! (Jaroslav Kratochvíl) takes aim at Czech hunting. Shadows of the past are revealed in the film Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate ( Libuše Rudinská), which examines whether the last Communist prisoner was a dissident and symbol of the revolution – or an StB collaborator. The section also includes a pair of family portraits: Family Business / from Videodiary (Jakub Wagner), and Marislav Janek’s eagerly awaited new film The Gospel According to Brabenec, about Vratislav Brabenec of the Plastic People of the Universe.
World Premieres · Daniel’s World, Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic 2014, 75 min
· The Gospel According to Brabenec , Miroslav Janek, Czech Republic 2014, 85 min
· Long Live Hunting! , Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Czech Republic 2014, 62 min
· Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate , Libuše Rudínská, Czech Republic 2014, 73 min
· The Plan , Benjamin Tuček, Czech Republic 2014, 91 min
· The Czech Way , Martin Kohout, Czech Republic 2014, 90 min
· Family Business / from Videodiary , Jakub Wagner, Czech Republic 2014, 60 min
· František of His Own Kind , Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2014, 26 min
· Lets Block , Martina Malinová, Czech Republic 2014, 47 min
My Farm Is My Castle , Jiří Stejskal, Czech Republic 2014, 87 min
Opus Bonum
Competition for the 2014 Best World Documentary Film
Opus Bonum selects the best noteworthy documentaries representing diverse trends from around the world. Sixteen films are in the Opus Bonum competition for best world documentary film, including 5 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 1 European premiere. Films in this section include Rock On Bones, a personal view of the Russian independent music scene, and the film-poem Fovea Centralis, which skirts the fringe of video art, composed of multiplied images from the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s closed-circuit cameras.20 Cents shows what happens when public transportation fares in São Paulo are increased and the carnival atmosphere is replaced by one of guerrilla warfare.
World Premieres · Aged , Philip Hoffman, Canada 2014, 45 min
· Rock on Bones , Caroline Troubetzkoy, France 2014, 145 min
· I Am the People , Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 110 min
· In Your Eyes , Pietro Albino Di Pasquale, Italy 2014, 78 min
Fovea Centralis , Philippe Rouy, France 2014, 50 min International Premieres · Chasing After The Wind , Juan Camilo Olmos Feris, Colombia 2014, 60 min
· Water to Tabato , Paulo Carneiro, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal 2014, 45 min
· 20 Cents , Tiago Tambelli, Brazil 2014, 52 min
· Buenos Aires Free Party , Homero Cirelli, Argentina 2014, 74 min
The Shelter , Fernand Melgar, Switzerland 2014, 101 min European Premiere The Beijing Ants , Ryuji Otsuka, China 2014, 88 min
Between The Seas
Competition for the 2014 Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe.
Between the Seas is a competition section for the countries and nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Seas presents 17 films, of which 4 are world premieres, 2 are international premieres, and 2 are European premieres. The Serbian Lawyer is one of the films seeing its world premiere at Jihlava – a film about the man who defended Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić, criminals from whom he had fled during the old regime. Another premiere in this section is Zuzana Piussi’s Transference , which sketches a dark picture of the state social care system for threatened children in Slovakia after the death of an abused child. Also in competition is the latest film by unsparing Austrian analyst Ulrich Seidl. In the Basement reveals that the basement is a rather important place for many Austrians, where you’ll find the usual hunting trophies and unusual bars, but also town council members and their swastikas, sadomasochism and other “hobbies”.
World Premieres · Transference , Zuzana Piussi, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2014, 57 min
· The Serbian Lawyer , Aleksandar Nikolić, Germany/Great Britain/Serbia 2014, 82 min
· Pill Junkies , Bartosz Staszewski, Poland 2014, 76 min
Ocean , Tamara Drakulić, Serbia 2014, 77 min International Premieres · 6 Degrees , Bartosz Dombrowski, Poland 2013, 81 min
A Last Year in 114 Minutes , Daniel Nicolae Djamo, Romania 2014, 114 min European Premieres Euromaidan: Rough Cut , Roman Bondarchuk et al., Ukraine 2014, 60 min Don’t Breathe, Nino Kirtadzé, France 2014, 86 min
Fascinations
Competition for the 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film.
Fascinations is a competition screening of experimental films that offer us unique approaches to the depiction of reality. The section will present 33 films, including 7 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 4 European premieres.
Premiere films include:
An animated work based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus (Active Image O directed by Becky James); the unguided choreography of white points in black space (Fascinating Moments by Yoshiki Nishimura); a memorial to one’s father using old photographs and chemical manipulation of the film itself using salt and seaweed (Dark Matter by Karel Doing); and a journey through a digitally manipulated landscape (L by Jacques Perconte).
World Premieres
· Active Image O , Becky James, USA 2014, 8 min
· Dark Matter , Karel Doing, Netherlands/Great Britain 2014, 20 min
· Fascinating Moments , Yoshiki Nishimura, Japan 2014, 4 min
· L , Jacques Perconte, France 2014, 15 min
· Our Hands Are Empty , Sj Ramir, Australia/New Zealand 2014, 10 min
· Jupiter Lolopop , Charlotte Dunker, Belgium 2014, 5 min
Study of Synchromy , Patrick Bergeron, Canada 2014, 3 min International Premieres
· Cut Out , Guli Silberstein, Great Britain 2014, 4 min
· The Civilization Desire , Carolina Astudillo, Spain 2014, 7 min
· A.D.A.M. , Vladislav Knežević, Croatia 2014, 13 min
· Digital Landscaping , Sangsok Ko, South Korea 2013, 4 min
· Field , Yi Myun, South Korea 2014, 6 min
Salers , Fernando Dominguez, Argentina/France 2014, 9 min European Premieres
· Beep , Kyungman Kim, South Korea 2014, 10 min
· Callisto , Youjin Moon, USA 2014, 14 min
· Droga! , Miko Revereza, Philippines 2013, 7 min
Frame Walk , Hayoung Jeon, South Korea 2014, 6 min Short Joy
Competition for the Best Short Film 2014 .
This year, this originally non-competition section devoted to short films has been transformed into a new competition section. The fifteen competition entries include films from all over the world, dealing with a wide spectrum of topics, and representing many current trends in contemporary documentary filmmaking. The Czech entry, Arguments by Andran Abramjan (who received an honourable mention in last year’s Czech Joy competition), considers the possibilities of dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis from both the eastern and western points of view. The purely observational film The Limits of Europe, underscored by the noise and sounds of protests, explores the spontaneous architecture of seven Kiev barricades erected in the streets leading to Independence Square. The contemplative and imaginatively filmed The Length enters the world of jazz legend Ted Curson.
First Lights
Competition for the Best Debut of 2014
Further evidence of Jihlava’s mission to support the film industry and share in the discovery of new talents is the presentation of a new competition section that rewards the best first work. Debut films presented as part of the traditional competition sections Opus Bonum, Czech Joy and Between the Seas have the opportunity to “battle it out” in a space that is not limited by territory. Comparing Czech and other Eastern European documentaries with their competition from the rest of the world can be a valuable experience, an opportunity to see commonalities and differences. It can also provide mutual inspiration not only for the films’ creators, but also for producers and other film professionals.
5. Non-competition Sections
Exprmntl.Cz
Experimental films from the Czech lands
This section is a non-competition survey of contemporary trends in Czech experimental film. Screenings will include films by renowned artists as well as filmmakers who just starting out.The unsettling video art of Zbyňek Baladrán, who focuses primarily on “archaeological” work with found material, can be seen in Dead Reckoning, showing the sterility of modern man’s life in four sequences featuring statistics, psychoanalysis, income and paranoia in the leading roles. Alice Růžičková’s film Autonomous Calábek takes a look into the plant kingdom. Made from a montage of scientific and film experiments, her portrait of a pioneer in plant physiology takes on surrealistic qualities.
Special Event
New world and Czech films, pre-premieres and festival hits
Alice Nellis presents Adoption: A Piece of Fortune, a kaleidoscope of stories with the same ending – a longed-for child. This opening film of the Jihlava Idff is a documentary exploration of a complex topic. In contrast, American master Errol Morris’ film The Unknown Known is a chilling look at former Us Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann captures the testimony of Benjamin Murmelstein, the “puppet king” appointed at the end of the Nazi era to the position of the last “Ältester” of the Judenrat at a model Jewish ghetto. Also worth mentioning is Regarding Susan Sontag, director Nancy Kates’s portrait of one the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.
Doc-fi
Documentary and fiction are not opposites
Doc-fi expresses the conviction that the boundary between documentary and fiction is permeable. This year, three unusual films will be screened. Requiem for Beauty by Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian examines the space between film, poetry and painting. His multi-language monologues touch on themes that people do not speak about much anymore. In Beyond Icebergland, a man, a woman and a child occupy an invisible common film space, but not the same reality. It’s an ephemeral chronicle of a frozen time and a collage of images from a disappearing world, a film on the frontier of documentary, mystification and delightful genre games. Czech filmmaker Ondřej Vavrečka’s Among Us is an experimentally tinged love story that takes place during the time when the country was coming to grips with the death of Václav Havel.
6. Doc Alliance
Doc Alliance is the result of a creative partnership of seven key European documentary film festivals: Cph:dox Copenhagen, Doclisboa, Dok Leipzig, Fid Marseille, Jihlava Idff, Planete Doc Film Festival and Visions du Réel Nyon.
The aim of Doc Alliance is to help documentary films reach as many viewers as possible, and to systematically support their distribution through their festival markets and through the alliance’s online platform www.DAFilms.com.
Over the course of its existence, the Jihlava festival has become an indispensable Czech and worldwide documentary event, and an active contributor to the promotion and distribution of documentary films. The Jihlava festival is a co-founder and member of Doc Alliance, a prestigious union of seven important European documentary festivals.
Program – Year Eighteen
As in past years, the largest celebration of original documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe will present a diverse range of Czech and foreign films, with many world, international, European, and Czech premieres.
“This year’s festival is a true tribute to the artistic and independent film scene. This tribute will take place in the presence of such special guests as Kidlat Tahimik (which translates to “Quiet Lightning”), founder of independent Filipino cinema, whose films from the 1970s were declared by Werner Herzog to be among the most free to come out during that time, and noted Chinese director Wang Bing, winner of awards at festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Yamagata and Marseilles,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.
The Face Of The Festival
The central motif of the 18th festival is a stark black-and-white symbol of a factory. It’s not only the dominant visual feature of the festival, but has also found its way into the films themselves. The poster was designed by artist, educator and publisher Juraj Horváth. This year’s festival trailer was created by the legend of Czech and world cinematography Jan Němec. This was his very first experience with this format; the intensity of the final form, however, can be felt in his short statement on the trailer’s filming:
“There are no ‘small’ or ‘big’ films. Twenty seconds expresses concern about the possible demise of film. I sound the alarm myself and the shadow of my hand is my signature.”
1. Organization And Awards
The festival is organized by the Jsaf civic association. In 2013, the festival issued more than 2,900 festival passes. Of these, 782 were for film professionals and festival guests from the Czech Republic and abroad, and 156 were for journalists. The festival screenings were attended by a total of more than 30,000 viewers.
The following awards will be presented as part of the 2014 Jihlava Idff:
· 2014 Best International Documentary Film Award (Opus Bonum competition)
· 2014 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film Award (Between the Seas competition)
· 2014 Best Czech Documentary Film Award (Czech Joy competition)
· 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film Award (Fascinations competition)
· 2014 Best Debut Film Award (First Lights competition)
· 2014 Best Short Film Award (Short Joy competition)
· 2014 Contribution to World Cinematography
2014 Spectators Prize 2014 Respekt Award for the best television or video reportage · Silver Eye Award in the categories of short, mid-length, and feature documentary
(part of the East Silver market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film)
· 2014 Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
· 2014 Audience Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
2. New At The 18th Jihlava Idff
This year’s festival brings two new competitions: the former non-competition section Short Joy, focusing on short films, has received competition status, and in the new competition First Lights, the jury will choose the best debut film from the Opus Bonum, Between the Seas and Czech Joy sections. And of course there’s our annual retrospective of distinctive personalities and unique thematic sections.
The Complete Letters
This unique project is the brainchild of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in which five pairs of world-renowned directors exchanged audio-visual “letters”. These letters will be presented at Jihlava in their Eastern European premiere. Filmmakers such as meditative artist Naomi Kawase, legend of the New York avant-garde Jonas Mekas, “lone wolf” Albert Serra and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing invite viewers into their private lives and into the secrets of their artistic poetics.
“It’s remarkable to see how much each letter reflects the personal style of each of the directors. Never have two directors with such radically different styles come together like this,” commented festival programmer David Čeněk.
Forgotten Filmmaker JIŘÍ PolÁK
This photographer, director and sensitive individual who escaped to the “place where dreams are made real” – the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf prior to the August occupation of Czechoslovakia – is one of the forgotten figures of Czech cinema. Jiří Polák was able to film Hospital in Kuks, but did not enjoy any domestic recognition. After his emigration and short stays in Vienna and Switzerland, he accepted film assignments in Iran.
Tribute: Alain Resnais
“Renowned French director passed away on 1 March 2014 at the age of 91. In memory of his work, we have prepared two screenings of his lesser-known or completely unknown films. He himself was instrumental to an unprecedented extent to the development of documentary filmmaking in France, and showed its new stylistic possibilities,” says festival programmer David Čeněk about this unique presentation of Resnais’ (mainly) early work. Alain Resnais The majority of Resnais’ works being presented at this year’s Jihlava Idff have been shown only a few times in France, and are being screened in the Czech Republic for the first time ever.
Retrospective: Kidlat Tahimik
A special guest at this year’s Jihlava festival will be the “father of Filipino independent film” – director, actor, screenwriter and producer Kidlat Tahimik, the founder of the so-called Filipino New Wave and an influential commentator on post-colonialism and power imbalances throughout the world, praised in the West by Werner Herzog when he said that [Tahimik’s] films from the 1970s are among some of the most free works on film of their time.
3. Jurors
The jury for the competition section Opus Bonum traditionally consists of just one person – a notable personality from world cinema. This year, this honour has been bestowed on a significant figure from the Yugoslav Black Wave – Želimir Žilnik.
The best film in the Between the Seas section will be chosen by:
· French film theoretician Raymond Bellour
· Spanish director Albert Serra
American artist Deborah Stratman Artist Kateřina Šedá Czech Joy Jury:
Poet Petr Hruška Former director of Czech Television Ivo Mathé Film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková Documentary filmmaker Bohdan Bláhovec The winner of the experimental competition Fascination will be determined by the Austrian master of found footage Peter Tscherkassky and his wife, filmmaker Eve Heller.
The historic first judging of the Short Joy section will be conducted by members of the art group Rafani.
4. Competition Sections
Czech Joy
Competition for the Best Czech Documentary Film 2014.
A prestigious selection of new Czech documentaries, including 10 world premieres. Films include Daniel’s World (Veronika Lišková), a look at the last taboo of modern society – paedophilia. The delightful film Long Live Hunting! (Jaroslav Kratochvíl) takes aim at Czech hunting. Shadows of the past are revealed in the film Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate ( Libuše Rudinská), which examines whether the last Communist prisoner was a dissident and symbol of the revolution – or an StB collaborator. The section also includes a pair of family portraits: Family Business / from Videodiary (Jakub Wagner), and Marislav Janek’s eagerly awaited new film The Gospel According to Brabenec, about Vratislav Brabenec of the Plastic People of the Universe.
World Premieres · Daniel’s World, Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic 2014, 75 min
· The Gospel According to Brabenec , Miroslav Janek, Czech Republic 2014, 85 min
· Long Live Hunting! , Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Czech Republic 2014, 62 min
· Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate , Libuše Rudínská, Czech Republic 2014, 73 min
· The Plan , Benjamin Tuček, Czech Republic 2014, 91 min
· The Czech Way , Martin Kohout, Czech Republic 2014, 90 min
· Family Business / from Videodiary , Jakub Wagner, Czech Republic 2014, 60 min
· František of His Own Kind , Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2014, 26 min
· Lets Block , Martina Malinová, Czech Republic 2014, 47 min
My Farm Is My Castle , Jiří Stejskal, Czech Republic 2014, 87 min
Opus Bonum
Competition for the 2014 Best World Documentary Film
Opus Bonum selects the best noteworthy documentaries representing diverse trends from around the world. Sixteen films are in the Opus Bonum competition for best world documentary film, including 5 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 1 European premiere. Films in this section include Rock On Bones, a personal view of the Russian independent music scene, and the film-poem Fovea Centralis, which skirts the fringe of video art, composed of multiplied images from the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s closed-circuit cameras.20 Cents shows what happens when public transportation fares in São Paulo are increased and the carnival atmosphere is replaced by one of guerrilla warfare.
World Premieres · Aged , Philip Hoffman, Canada 2014, 45 min
· Rock on Bones , Caroline Troubetzkoy, France 2014, 145 min
· I Am the People , Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 110 min
· In Your Eyes , Pietro Albino Di Pasquale, Italy 2014, 78 min
Fovea Centralis , Philippe Rouy, France 2014, 50 min International Premieres · Chasing After The Wind , Juan Camilo Olmos Feris, Colombia 2014, 60 min
· Water to Tabato , Paulo Carneiro, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal 2014, 45 min
· 20 Cents , Tiago Tambelli, Brazil 2014, 52 min
· Buenos Aires Free Party , Homero Cirelli, Argentina 2014, 74 min
The Shelter , Fernand Melgar, Switzerland 2014, 101 min European Premiere The Beijing Ants , Ryuji Otsuka, China 2014, 88 min
Between The Seas
Competition for the 2014 Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe.
Between the Seas is a competition section for the countries and nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Seas presents 17 films, of which 4 are world premieres, 2 are international premieres, and 2 are European premieres. The Serbian Lawyer is one of the films seeing its world premiere at Jihlava – a film about the man who defended Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić, criminals from whom he had fled during the old regime. Another premiere in this section is Zuzana Piussi’s Transference , which sketches a dark picture of the state social care system for threatened children in Slovakia after the death of an abused child. Also in competition is the latest film by unsparing Austrian analyst Ulrich Seidl. In the Basement reveals that the basement is a rather important place for many Austrians, where you’ll find the usual hunting trophies and unusual bars, but also town council members and their swastikas, sadomasochism and other “hobbies”.
World Premieres · Transference , Zuzana Piussi, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2014, 57 min
· The Serbian Lawyer , Aleksandar Nikolić, Germany/Great Britain/Serbia 2014, 82 min
· Pill Junkies , Bartosz Staszewski, Poland 2014, 76 min
Ocean , Tamara Drakulić, Serbia 2014, 77 min International Premieres · 6 Degrees , Bartosz Dombrowski, Poland 2013, 81 min
A Last Year in 114 Minutes , Daniel Nicolae Djamo, Romania 2014, 114 min European Premieres Euromaidan: Rough Cut , Roman Bondarchuk et al., Ukraine 2014, 60 min Don’t Breathe, Nino Kirtadzé, France 2014, 86 min
Fascinations
Competition for the 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film.
Fascinations is a competition screening of experimental films that offer us unique approaches to the depiction of reality. The section will present 33 films, including 7 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 4 European premieres.
Premiere films include:
An animated work based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus (Active Image O directed by Becky James); the unguided choreography of white points in black space (Fascinating Moments by Yoshiki Nishimura); a memorial to one’s father using old photographs and chemical manipulation of the film itself using salt and seaweed (Dark Matter by Karel Doing); and a journey through a digitally manipulated landscape (L by Jacques Perconte).
World Premieres
· Active Image O , Becky James, USA 2014, 8 min
· Dark Matter , Karel Doing, Netherlands/Great Britain 2014, 20 min
· Fascinating Moments , Yoshiki Nishimura, Japan 2014, 4 min
· L , Jacques Perconte, France 2014, 15 min
· Our Hands Are Empty , Sj Ramir, Australia/New Zealand 2014, 10 min
· Jupiter Lolopop , Charlotte Dunker, Belgium 2014, 5 min
Study of Synchromy , Patrick Bergeron, Canada 2014, 3 min International Premieres
· Cut Out , Guli Silberstein, Great Britain 2014, 4 min
· The Civilization Desire , Carolina Astudillo, Spain 2014, 7 min
· A.D.A.M. , Vladislav Knežević, Croatia 2014, 13 min
· Digital Landscaping , Sangsok Ko, South Korea 2013, 4 min
· Field , Yi Myun, South Korea 2014, 6 min
Salers , Fernando Dominguez, Argentina/France 2014, 9 min European Premieres
· Beep , Kyungman Kim, South Korea 2014, 10 min
· Callisto , Youjin Moon, USA 2014, 14 min
· Droga! , Miko Revereza, Philippines 2013, 7 min
Frame Walk , Hayoung Jeon, South Korea 2014, 6 min Short Joy
Competition for the Best Short Film 2014 .
This year, this originally non-competition section devoted to short films has been transformed into a new competition section. The fifteen competition entries include films from all over the world, dealing with a wide spectrum of topics, and representing many current trends in contemporary documentary filmmaking. The Czech entry, Arguments by Andran Abramjan (who received an honourable mention in last year’s Czech Joy competition), considers the possibilities of dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis from both the eastern and western points of view. The purely observational film The Limits of Europe, underscored by the noise and sounds of protests, explores the spontaneous architecture of seven Kiev barricades erected in the streets leading to Independence Square. The contemplative and imaginatively filmed The Length enters the world of jazz legend Ted Curson.
First Lights
Competition for the Best Debut of 2014
Further evidence of Jihlava’s mission to support the film industry and share in the discovery of new talents is the presentation of a new competition section that rewards the best first work. Debut films presented as part of the traditional competition sections Opus Bonum, Czech Joy and Between the Seas have the opportunity to “battle it out” in a space that is not limited by territory. Comparing Czech and other Eastern European documentaries with their competition from the rest of the world can be a valuable experience, an opportunity to see commonalities and differences. It can also provide mutual inspiration not only for the films’ creators, but also for producers and other film professionals.
5. Non-competition Sections
Exprmntl.Cz
Experimental films from the Czech lands
This section is a non-competition survey of contemporary trends in Czech experimental film. Screenings will include films by renowned artists as well as filmmakers who just starting out.The unsettling video art of Zbyňek Baladrán, who focuses primarily on “archaeological” work with found material, can be seen in Dead Reckoning, showing the sterility of modern man’s life in four sequences featuring statistics, psychoanalysis, income and paranoia in the leading roles. Alice Růžičková’s film Autonomous Calábek takes a look into the plant kingdom. Made from a montage of scientific and film experiments, her portrait of a pioneer in plant physiology takes on surrealistic qualities.
Special Event
New world and Czech films, pre-premieres and festival hits
Alice Nellis presents Adoption: A Piece of Fortune, a kaleidoscope of stories with the same ending – a longed-for child. This opening film of the Jihlava Idff is a documentary exploration of a complex topic. In contrast, American master Errol Morris’ film The Unknown Known is a chilling look at former Us Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann captures the testimony of Benjamin Murmelstein, the “puppet king” appointed at the end of the Nazi era to the position of the last “Ältester” of the Judenrat at a model Jewish ghetto. Also worth mentioning is Regarding Susan Sontag, director Nancy Kates’s portrait of one the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.
Doc-fi
Documentary and fiction are not opposites
Doc-fi expresses the conviction that the boundary between documentary and fiction is permeable. This year, three unusual films will be screened. Requiem for Beauty by Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian examines the space between film, poetry and painting. His multi-language monologues touch on themes that people do not speak about much anymore. In Beyond Icebergland, a man, a woman and a child occupy an invisible common film space, but not the same reality. It’s an ephemeral chronicle of a frozen time and a collage of images from a disappearing world, a film on the frontier of documentary, mystification and delightful genre games. Czech filmmaker Ondřej Vavrečka’s Among Us is an experimentally tinged love story that takes place during the time when the country was coming to grips with the death of Václav Havel.
6. Doc Alliance
Doc Alliance is the result of a creative partnership of seven key European documentary film festivals: Cph:dox Copenhagen, Doclisboa, Dok Leipzig, Fid Marseille, Jihlava Idff, Planete Doc Film Festival and Visions du Réel Nyon.
The aim of Doc Alliance is to help documentary films reach as many viewers as possible, and to systematically support their distribution through their festival markets and through the alliance’s online platform www.DAFilms.com.
- 10/28/2014
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
Edinburgh exhibitor Filmhouse is to tour a season of films about childhood across the UK, curated by documentary filmmaker Mark Cousins.
The season will comprise 17 films about childhood (see below for full list).
Most of the titles in the season are featured in Cousins’ documentary A Story of Children and Film, which premiered at Cannes last year.
The April-June tour will take in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol and Sheffield among other cities.
The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has also licensed VoD rights to a number of the titles.
The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund. Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell, who also produced A Story of Children and Film, are producers.
The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:
• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend...
The season will comprise 17 films about childhood (see below for full list).
Most of the titles in the season are featured in Cousins’ documentary A Story of Children and Film, which premiered at Cannes last year.
The April-June tour will take in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol and Sheffield among other cities.
The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has also licensed VoD rights to a number of the titles.
The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund. Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell, who also produced A Story of Children and Film, are producers.
The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:
• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend...
- 2/4/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
A Well Paid Walk by Milos Forman (top); Vaclav Havel in Citizen Havel by Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek (middle); The Karamazovs by Petr Zelenka (bottom) New Czech Films at New York’s BAMcinématek. The series includes works by two-time Academy Award winner Milos Forman and Jan H?ebejk, whose Divided We Fall (2000) was nominated for a best foreign language film Oscar. Václav Marhoul’s war drama Tobruk, which is supposed to show that there’s "a very thin line between heroism and cowardice," sounds particularly intriguing. All films in Czech with English subtitles. Schedule and film information from the BAMcinématek website: A Well Paid Walk (Dob?e Placená Procházku) (2009) 85min Wed, Nov 18 at 6:50*, 9:40pm *Q&A [...]...
- 11/17/2009
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
- Last week The European Film Academy announced the ten finalists for the category of european documentary film of the year (see complete list below) and today they've announced that the big winner is Helena Trestikova's RENÉ. The docu receives the 2008 Documentary Prix Arte award discerned by the Academy. The jury statement reads as follows: This is a film which tells a powerful story – filmed over 20 years – about an extraordinary character on the edge of society. It is a longitual documentary of outstanding quality. The jury found its examination of the relationship between subject and filmmakerfascinating and thought-provoking. Known for shooting her subjects for long periods of time, Trestikova began shooting her subject in 1989 at a youth correctional facility in Libkovice. René has been in prison since he was 16. While in custody, he and several others attempted a riot, which extended his sentence. History repeats itself in and out
- 10/21/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Cologne, Germany -- Politics, big and small, are the themes running through this year's nominees for the Prix Arte -- the European Film Academy's best documentary award.
Political films of all stripes will be in the running for Europe's top docu prize, from resurgent Russian nationalism in Mikhail Morozov's "Durakovo -- Village of Fools" to African dictatorship in Klaarte Quirijns' "The Dictator Hunter"; from a private look at the former Czech president in Pavel Kotecky and Miroslav Janek's "Citizen Havel" to "Shadow of the Holy Book," Arto Halonen's comic criticism of crony capitalism.
Other nominees include "Children. As Times Flies," Thomas Heise's picture of social deprivation in eastern Germany; "Rene," a 20 years-in-the-making portrait of a petty criminal from Czech director Helena Trestikova; and "The Mother," Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov's look at a woman raising her family on a Russian farm away from her violent husband.
Political films of all stripes will be in the running for Europe's top docu prize, from resurgent Russian nationalism in Mikhail Morozov's "Durakovo -- Village of Fools" to African dictatorship in Klaarte Quirijns' "The Dictator Hunter"; from a private look at the former Czech president in Pavel Kotecky and Miroslav Janek's "Citizen Havel" to "Shadow of the Holy Book," Arto Halonen's comic criticism of crony capitalism.
Other nominees include "Children. As Times Flies," Thomas Heise's picture of social deprivation in eastern Germany; "Rene," a 20 years-in-the-making portrait of a petty criminal from Czech director Helena Trestikova; and "The Mother," Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov's look at a woman raising her family on a Russian farm away from her violent husband.
- 10/16/2008
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Crossing Europe Film Festival, Linz, Austria.
LINZ, Austria -- An absorbing fly-on-the-wall record of an unusual head of state, "Citizen Havel" ("Obcˇan Havel") works as a heartfelt, affectionate tribute that also allows us to see the flaws and foibles of Vaclav Havel. A cinch for festival exposure, this crowd-pleasing film appeals as a likely candidate for arthouse distribution -- not least because of the array of famous faces on view, including Bill Clinton, The Rolling Stones and both Presidents Bush.
Director Pavel Koutecky´ clearly enjoyed remarkable access to Havel throughout his two terms as the Czech Republic's President (1993-2001). Following Koutecky´'s accidental death in 2006, the film was completed by his collaborator Miroslav Janek. The camera is present before, during and after numerous events of state, observing Havel as he frets over matters major and triflingly minor. On this evidence, there's precious little difference between Havel the public figure and Havel the private individual: Genially down-to-earth, he makes good company over a two-hour running-time which, partly thanks to Tonicˇka Jankova's editing, flies breezily by.
There is one particularly jarring cut: As we're giggling at the Stones' antics as they're shown round the presidential quarters, we're confronted with the sudden death of Havel's beloved spouse, Olga. This is one of few misjudgments in a movie which otherwise proceeds smoothly along its straight chronological path as interpolated TV-news bulletins provide handy regular datelines.
Viewers glean details of Havel's past -- one of Czechoslovakia's leading playwrights, this vocal critic of the country's pro-Soviet regime spent five years in prison -- without need for narration or expository titles. On the basis of this enjoyable, engaging, often very funny documentary, citizens of other nations, regardless of their political stripe, may reckon the Czechs were lucky to have had Citizen Havel in charge at such a pivotal period in their stormy history.
Production company: AFIS - Association of Film & Sociology.
Directors: Pavel Koutecky´, Miroslav Janek.
Producer: Jarmila Polakova.
Executive Producer: Jan Krasa.
Co-producers: David Dusˇek, Pavel Strnad, Michael Wolkowitz.
Director of photography: Stano Slusˇny´.
Editor: Tonicˇka Jankova.
Sales: Deckert Distribution GmbH, Leipzig.
No rating, 120 minutes.
LINZ, Austria -- An absorbing fly-on-the-wall record of an unusual head of state, "Citizen Havel" ("Obcˇan Havel") works as a heartfelt, affectionate tribute that also allows us to see the flaws and foibles of Vaclav Havel. A cinch for festival exposure, this crowd-pleasing film appeals as a likely candidate for arthouse distribution -- not least because of the array of famous faces on view, including Bill Clinton, The Rolling Stones and both Presidents Bush.
Director Pavel Koutecky´ clearly enjoyed remarkable access to Havel throughout his two terms as the Czech Republic's President (1993-2001). Following Koutecky´'s accidental death in 2006, the film was completed by his collaborator Miroslav Janek. The camera is present before, during and after numerous events of state, observing Havel as he frets over matters major and triflingly minor. On this evidence, there's precious little difference between Havel the public figure and Havel the private individual: Genially down-to-earth, he makes good company over a two-hour running-time which, partly thanks to Tonicˇka Jankova's editing, flies breezily by.
There is one particularly jarring cut: As we're giggling at the Stones' antics as they're shown round the presidential quarters, we're confronted with the sudden death of Havel's beloved spouse, Olga. This is one of few misjudgments in a movie which otherwise proceeds smoothly along its straight chronological path as interpolated TV-news bulletins provide handy regular datelines.
Viewers glean details of Havel's past -- one of Czechoslovakia's leading playwrights, this vocal critic of the country's pro-Soviet regime spent five years in prison -- without need for narration or expository titles. On the basis of this enjoyable, engaging, often very funny documentary, citizens of other nations, regardless of their political stripe, may reckon the Czechs were lucky to have had Citizen Havel in charge at such a pivotal period in their stormy history.
Production company: AFIS - Association of Film & Sociology.
Directors: Pavel Koutecky´, Miroslav Janek.
Producer: Jarmila Polakova.
Executive Producer: Jan Krasa.
Co-producers: David Dusˇek, Pavel Strnad, Michael Wolkowitz.
Director of photography: Stano Slusˇny´.
Editor: Tonicˇka Jankova.
Sales: Deckert Distribution GmbH, Leipzig.
No rating, 120 minutes.
- 5/23/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Two mammoth documentary projects -- one on former Czech president Vaclav Havel and another on the generation that grew up in East Germany -- are among the highlights of the Berlin International Film Festival's Forum Special program.
Czech filmmaker Pavel Koutecky spent more than a decade following Vaclav Havel with a video camera for his docu "Citizen Havel", which begins in 1993 when Havel was swept to power following his "velvet revolution" over Hungary's communist dictatorship.
Koutecky died in an accident in 2006, leaving more than 100 hours of material. His Czech colleague Miroslav Janek took over the project, completing the film that will screen in Berlin.
Winfried and Barbara Junge's five-hour documentary "...they're living happily ever after," which also will enjoy a Forum Special screening, marks the end of an even more ambitious undertaking: to track the lives of an entire generation. For the past 46 years, the Junges have regularly chronicled the lives of children from the eastern German town of Golzow, following the same group that started school in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was built.
Czech filmmaker Pavel Koutecky spent more than a decade following Vaclav Havel with a video camera for his docu "Citizen Havel", which begins in 1993 when Havel was swept to power following his "velvet revolution" over Hungary's communist dictatorship.
Koutecky died in an accident in 2006, leaving more than 100 hours of material. His Czech colleague Miroslav Janek took over the project, completing the film that will screen in Berlin.
Winfried and Barbara Junge's five-hour documentary "...they're living happily ever after," which also will enjoy a Forum Special screening, marks the end of an even more ambitious undertaking: to track the lives of an entire generation. For the past 46 years, the Junges have regularly chronicled the lives of children from the eastern German town of Golzow, following the same group that started school in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was built.
- 1/25/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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