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Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? will open the 27th JI.HLAVA
HAVEL SPEAKING, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WILL OPEN THE 27TH JI.HLAVA
The world premiere of a time-lapse documentary Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? which follows the last years of former Czech President Václav Havel's life, will open the festival on October 24. The director Pavel Jančárek created a multi-layered portrait of a world-famous political icon and important playwright, but also an ordinary man plagued by health problems. With a sense of humour, he reflects on his political legacy and universal human issues. The central motif is formed by the parallels between Havel's life and the successful play, which Havel always wanted to direct as a film adaptation.
Photo still: Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? by Petr Jančárek
We have announced the full festival line-up of the 27th Ji.hlava IDFF, which comprises 357 films in 25 sections and we are thrilled to present this year’s remarkable documentary crop in cinemas next week. The festival will offer 115 world premieres, 22 international and 17 European premieres. The daily programme is now online!
While we have already shared with you the Opus Bonum International Competition, unique retrospectives of Marguerite Duras and the Méliès brothers, we would like to bring your attention to the other sections – Testimonies will offer the most daring documentaries from the fields of politics, nature and knowledge, the Czech Joy features the national competition, Fascinations and exprmntl.cz focus on experimental films, and Constellations will present titles that shined at leading world festivals this year. And we are also happy to share with you the festival's opening film!
We invite all film professionals to explore the industry programme, where you will find the new American and European documentary projects participating in the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum, and other industry events.
The celebration of documentary cinema in Jihlava starts in five days. Thank you all for joining us!
Marek Hovorka and the Ji.hlava IDFF team
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BÉLA TARR WILL RECEIVE LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT JI.HLAVA
The 27th Ji.hlava will accord the Contribution to World Cinema Award to the prominent Hungarian director Béla Tarr, whose last film The Turin Horse was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale. While in his early days he made short documentaries, mainly about workers and people on the margins of Hungarian society, his latest features have an unmistakable minimalist handwriting and apocalyptic feel combined with a sense of the absurd. The Ji.hlava audience can also look forward to Tarr's masterclass and the screening of Werckmeister's Harmonies. Béla Tarr will receive the Award at the festival's Closing ceremony on October 28.
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MASTERCLASSES BY KAWASE, TARR, AUVRAY, TÁBORSKÝ, AND HOLLAND
The Ji.hlava audiences can traditionally look forward to several masterclasses. The internationally acclaimed Japanese director Naomi Kawase returns to Ji.hlava after 18 years. Apart from masterclass, Kawase will screen at Ji.hlava her cinematic treatment of the Olympic Games – Official Film of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and her feature titled Still the Water. The renowned French editor Dominique Auvray is behind many remarkable films, including Wang Bing's Youth (Spring), which will be screened at the festival. A special festival section is dedicated to Václav Táborský who is largely responsible for ushering in cinéma vérité in Czechoslovak cinematography. The celebrated Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr will present his creative method to the Ji.hlava audiences and we will also be joined online by Polish director Agnieszka Holland whose film Green Border has recently hit cinemas in Europe and beyond.
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SEVENTEEN DARING TITLES IN TESTIMONIES
The Testimonies competition features a selection of films that depict the current state of the world from various angles and which should not be overlooked for many different reasons. Films from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States deal with important societal, political, and environmental issues.
Photo still: One of the Thousand Hills by Bernard Bellefroid
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CZECH JOY FEATURES BEST NEW CZECH DOCUMENTARIES
The Czech competition will feature seventeen films including an interesting line of films reflecting on the contemporary world in an international context, whether it's China, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, or France. Among the films showcased in the Czech Joy section will be also film essay Notes from Emerocene by Viera Čákanyová as well as film portraits La Reine by Nikola Klinger and You Will Never See It All by Štěpán Pech. The duo of directors Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík will present their awarded Czech-Slovak co-production film Photophobia. The industry professionals are invited to meet the authors at the Czech Joy in the Spotlight presentation, which will take place on October 25 from 5PM.
Photo still: Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík
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BEST OF FESTIVALS – SIXTEEN FILMS IN CONSTELLATIONS
The Constellations section that traditionally presents a selection of the cream of the world's film festivals will screen Our Body where director Claire Simon grapples with womanhood and pivotal life stages, a directorial debut by Estonian director Anna Hints Smoke Sauna Sisterhood awarded at Sundance, and The Other Profile in which French director Armel Hostiou travels to the African Congo to find out who stole his identity via a Facebook profile. Check out all the sixteen films of the Constellation section!
Photo still: The Other Profile by Armel Hostiou
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THIS YEAR'S CONFIRMED FESTIVAL GUESTS
Ji.hlava will host many great filmmakers as well as personalities from other walks of life. They include celebrated Chinese composer Wang Si-lin, film directors Béla Tarr, Naomi Kawase, Claire Simon, Anna Hints, and Vlad Petri, French editor Dominique Auvray, the legend of Czechoslovak New Wave Václav Táborský and of course many other Czech documentary filmmakers. The guests of the festival's Inspiration Forum include Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, American theoretical physicist and astrobiologist Sara Walker, and Canadian author Paris Marx. You can now browse our Industry Guide to find out who is coming to the festival. And once you arrive to Ji.hlava, just follow the white line!
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VOTE FOR THE BEST FESTIVAL POSTER
We invite you to cast your votes in the traditional Best Festival Poster competition. You can browse the 59 artworks submitted by film festivals from across the world. The voting ends at midnight on Thursday, October 26 and the winners will be announced at the Ji.hlava Industry Award Ceremony on the following day.
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