Ji.hlava 22

During the October 25 festival opening, Romanian producer Ada Solomon was handed the APA World Excellence Award. The best film in Short Joy section film, as decided upon by the online viewers of DAFilms.com, was this year named as Blue Bed by Belgian director Lize Cuveele. In 2022, Ji.hlava IDFF presents almost four hundred films, and the festival continues to October 30.

This week, the Institute of Documentary Film will hand out the Silver Eye Awards to the best feature and short documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe during the East Silver Market at the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF. The winner in each category receives prize money of €2,500 and will benefit from the year-long international festival service East Silver Caravan, worth an additional €3,500.

The 2nd session of the Ex Oriente Film workshop 'Production and Story Development' takes place during the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF, running to October 30. The team of experienced tutors, comprising doc expert Mikael Opstrup, producer/consultant Iikka Vehkalahti, director/script editor Ivana Pauerová Miloševič and director/producer Filip Remunda will help selected filmmakers to develop their feature doc projects.

With over 1,300 film professionals in attendance every year, Ji.hlava IDFF is a key meeting place for the world doc industry, and the most important documentary hub in Central and Eastern Europe, even for US doccers. Head of Industry Jarmila Outratová guides Business Doc Europe though a programme jam-packed with new projects, the promotion of new production talent and a major market for CEE documentary output.

Festival boss Marek Hovorka talks to Business Doc Europe on the eve of the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF, which kicks off October 25, running through to October 30. Hovorka describes the leading Czech festival as “a documentary Woodstock.” It may now be 26-years-old but it still has the same freewheeling idealism that characterised the event when it was launched in 1997, he points out.

Ukrainian Oksana Moiseniuk’s film captures the outbreak of the Russian aggression, as seen through the eyes of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. Ji.hlava will highlight the lifetime contribution of Slovak director Dušan Hanák. The fest will also feature masterclasses by Azerbaijani director Hilal Baydarov and Canadian documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal.

Sixteen titles from 15 countries have been selected for Opus Bonum International Competition of the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF. Eight films will be screened in their world premiere, seven in international premiere and one will have its European premiere at Ji.hlava. The festival also unveils the 5-strong Opus Bonum jury. $10,000 prize for Best World Doc.

The programme offers up 300 films including a unique retrospective of American Oscar-winning avant-gardist Shirley Clarke and the largest ever retrospective of Filipino cinema outside of Asia. The programme will also feature a reflection on the Russian aggression in Ukraine and a conference dedicated to ethics in documentary filmmaking. The 26th Ji.hlava IDFF will take place October 25–30.

The 2nd edition of the Forum, running October 27-28, will 16 feature projects in development, production and post-production. The selected projects include diverse genres and audiovisual formats – such as fiction films with documentary aspects, hybrid, cinema expanded, experimental and short films. New awards in 2022.

The festival programme will offer the ‘largest showcase of Filipino cinema in Europe,’ a reflection on Russian aggression in Ukraine and war as a theme, as well as new works by Armenian filmmaking legend Artavazd Peleshyan and Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa. Ji.hlava’s Inspiration Forum’s discussions will revolve around freedom, technology, the theory of degrowth and the situation in Ukraine.