Ji.hlava '23

Pavel Jančárek’s feature doc, which follows the last years of former Czech President Václav Havel, will open Ji.hlava IDFF on October 24. The festival also announced that Béla Tarr will receive the Contribution to World Cinema Award during the festival’s closing night festivities on October 27. The revered Hungarian will furthermore give a masterclass during the festival.

This year, the Ji.hlava IDFF offers up 357 films in both competitive and non-competitive sections, of which 115 will be world premieres, 22 international premieres and 17 European premieres. "Ji.hlava is a place that brings forth striking images from around the world, connecting the community of filmmakers and viewers," says festival director Marek Hovorka. Ji.hlava IDFF runs October 24-29.

The Czech doc fest has announced the 14 new European documentary projects that will be presented at the 3rd edition of its Forum, running October 26/27. The event is dedicated to “the new generation of European producers, new formats, innovative trends, and visions for the future.” The festival has also unveiled this year’s pre-screening trailer, made by the legendary Catalan Albert Serra.

The Czech docfest revealed September 22 details of its Industry programme running October 25 to 28, that includes pitches of new Czech and international projects, presentations by the EMERGING PRODUCERS 2024 cohort and a range of panel discussions. Organisers also list the nine US projects selected for third Ji.hlava New Visions Forum.

This year’s Ji.hlava IDFF is primarily dedicated to women, the Czech festival announced September 13, with topics such as female physicality and sexuality, ageing, friendship, childbirth, coming to terms with motherhood, sexual violence, and the effort to break free from gender roles running through the programme. Special guests include Claire Simon and Naomi Kawase. The festival also presents a Marguerite Duras retrospective.

The leading Czech docfest invites submissions from “diverse audiovisual formats” such as fiction with documentary aspects, hybrid, experimental, short films, docu and web series, cinema expanded projects, games with documentary aspects, as well as VR+AR+Live documentaries. Cash awards are on offer for the most promising projects. The deadline for applications August 15.