AWARDED FILMS AND FILMMAKERS AT THE 27TH JI.HLAVA
The Awards of the 27th Ji.hlava IDFF were presented at Jihlava’s DKO on Saturday night! The Contribution to World Cinema award was presented to legendary Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. The Opus Bonum Award for the most notable international documentary film was granted to Ship by Croatian director Elvis Lenić, while Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík took home the Best Czech Documentary award. The award for the Best Central and East European documentary went to to Polish film Distances by Matej Bobrik, the Best film from the Visegrad region is The Third End of the Stick by Slovak director Jaro Vojtek. The award for the Best Debut went to You Will Never See It All by Czech director Štěpán Pech and Maia Gattás Vargas from Argentina received the Award for original approach for her East Wind. The Czech director Nikola Klinger received the students' prize for La Reine. The jury of the Testimonies section appreciated Mighty Afrin: In The Time Of Floods by Greek director Angelos Rallis. The Best Experimental Documentary film is Silhouette by Japanese director Yoshiki Nishimura and The Commodity Catalogue by Zbyněk Baladrán was named the Best Czech Experiment. The Short Joy Award went to Kata's Motherhood by Santwana Bayaskar from India, and Is There Any Place For Me, Please? by Jarmila Štuková was voted the audiences' favourite. See all awards and jury statements here.
JI.HLAVA INDUSTRY PRIZES FOR THE MOST PROMISING PROJECTS
Nine projects participating in the third edition of the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum were awarded at the 27th Ji.hlava IDFF. The Award for the most promising European project went to Czech-Slovak co-production If Pigeons Turned to Gold by Pepa Lubojacki, the Award for the best U.S. project was divided between Valley of the Night and Vestibule. The awards were presented in cooperation with our partners, which include UPP, Soundsquare, AmDocs, FilmAid, Current Time TV, EURODOC, #Docs Connect Taskovski Training, Cannes Docs – Marché du Film, Documentary Association of Europe, European Film Market, and Meeting Point Vilnius. See the full list of Ji.hlava New Visions 2023 winners as well as other industry awards here.
PRODUCERS’ AWARD FOR PIERRE-OLIVIER BARDET
The APA World Excellence Award for the Best Producer of 2023 accorded by the Czech Producers’ Association was handed at the 27th Ji.hlava to French producer Pierre-Olivier Bardet. Pierre has produced dozens of films and many have received awards at major international film festivals. “The fascination of working with those who reject the usual conventions of filmmaking is what drives me,” says Pierre-Olivier Bardet in an interview from Ji.hlava. Bardet was the fifth laureate of the award, after Ada Solomon, Jacques Bidou, Gabriele Kranzelbinder and Heino Deckert.
JI.HLAVA WELCOMED OVER 1,000 INDUSTRY GUESTS
Over the last week, the Ji.hlava industry programme featured various pitchings, discussions, and masterclasses, a conference on ethics in documentary filmmaking, workshops, networking events, a film market, and presentations. In total, over 500 one-on-one meetings were organized during the festival’s Matchmaking Accelerator. In the coming days we will share with you recordings of selected events – including the presentation of EMERGING PRODUCERS 2024, the Czech Joy in the Spotlight overview of new Czech documentaries, and the Visegrad Accelerator debate on the rapidly changing world of virtual reality. All accredited film professionals have access to the Ji.hlava Videoteque where they can now watch the festival's selection online.
NEW CO-PRODUCTION SUPPORT FOR CEE DOCUMENTARIES
We have officially announced the creation of new co-production project Ji.hlava/JB Films – a joint initiative of Ji.hlava and the festival’s long-term partner Jan Barta. Next year, up to EUR 110,000 will be allocated to creative documentaries from the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The films will be selected through a call for proposals to be announced in February 2024. The film projects in which Ji.hlava/JB Films will step in as a co-producer shall be announced in June 2024.
INSPIRATION FORUM FEATURED TWENTY DISCUSSIONS
For the thirteenth time, the Ji.hlava’s unique Inspiration Forum offered discussions with dozens personalities from across the world and representing different walks of life, including writer Andri Snær Magnason, astrobiologist and physicist Sara Imari Walker, sociologist and cultural theorist Jan Sowa, technology journalist Paris Marx and many others. We focused on food, space, water, communities and artificial intelligence. The brand new Inspiration Forum websIte is conceived as a library of ideas and thoughts – so we invite you to start discovering at inspirationforum.com.
JI.HLAVA TO EXPAND FROM 6 TO 10 DAYS STARTING IN 2024
The Ji.hlava IDFF should extend from the current six days to ten in the coming years. This was announced at a joint press briefing by the festival, City of Jihlava, and the Vysočina region on Saturday. "We want to provide greater comfort for our audience. This will free up accommodation capacity, which will be available to more festival guests and visitors. The extension will also result in a greater number of screenings, allowing us to have up to four screenings of a single film,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.
ONLINE EDITION CONTINUES UNTIL NOVEMBER 12
Until November 12, viewers in the Czech Republic can enjoy a selection of 170 films from the Ji.hlava online programme. The Ji.hlava online selection includes films in the competition programme including the winners, as well as titles from the retrospective sections. Enjoy the selection and we look forward to meeting you at the 28th edition of Ji.hlava IDFF, scheduled for October 25 – November 3, 2024. See you soon!
