The selection stretches from Ireland to Russia, with Germany taking two slots in the competition. Also in the line-up are the Bulgarian film Thirst directed by Svetla Tsotsorkova and the Visegrad coproduction (Czech Republic, Poland, France, Slovak Republic) I, Olga Hepnarova directed by Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda.
The festival has five competition sections, with feature films and animated films central to the festival’s identity. A favorite section of the festival is the screenings of new Czech films, and Czech films also figure strongly in the “Neighborhood” section of films.
The International European Competition of First Films follows:
My Revolution (France)
Directed by Ramzi Ben Sliman
Zhaleika (Germany)
Directed by Eliza Petkova
I, Olga Hepnarova (Czech Republic, Poland, France, Slovak Republic)
Directed by Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
Produced by Media Brigade (CZ) in coproduction with Alef Film & Media Group (SK), Arizona Productions (FR) and Czech production companies Black Balance, Love.FRAME, Barrandov Studios, FAMU and Michael Samuelson Lightning Prague
Supported by Polish Film Institute, Lower Silesia Film Fund , The State Cinematography Fund – Czech Republic and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Thirst (Bulgaria)
Directed by Svetla Tsotsorkova
Produced by Front Film
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center
Rag Union (Russia)
Directed by Mikhail Mestetskiy
Montanha (Portugal, France)
Directed by João Salaviza
My Name Is Emily (Ireland)
Directed by Simon Fitzmaurice
Departure (France, U.K.)
Directed by Andrew Steggall
Sanctuary (Germany)
Directed by Marc Brummund
Rauf (Turkey)
Directed by Baris Kaya, Soner Caner