Every year, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival organisers show a selection of extraordinary creative documentaries, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. The 22nd edition of the festival, running from October 25 to 30 this year, will introduce seven Slovak and co-production documentaries, most of them in their world or international premiere.
Jakub Červenka´s debut Talks with TGM will compete within Opus Bonum, section that represents contemporary nonfiction tendencies. Writer Karel Čapek meets President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk in the gardens of Topolčianky Castle to discuss the fate of their joint literary work. The conversation about the key personal issues and about social function of a writer and politician is interrupted with mutual reproaches and offenses. Talks with TGM will also compete in Czech joy section.
Competition section First Lights will introduce My Unknown Soldier by Anna Kryvenko, documentary about searching for a removed person from director´s family photo album.
Renowned Slovak film producer Zuzana Mistríková will be among the jurors judging the 15 documentaries of the Between the Seas section. Within the section, two of the film competitors were made in Slovak (co)production. Self-reflective documentary The Last Self-portrait by Marek Kuboš depicts director´s considering the end of his film career. Documentary The Good Death by Tomáš Krupa will show terminally ill Janette who intentionally wants to end her life in world premiere. „Our goal is to break the taboo on death. People are afraid of death, it scares them. The society is trying to ignore one of the essential parts of our lives but thinking about the inevitable end will bring you a totally different perception of life. Today, when we try to figure out the future, it is the best time to question human´s mortality,“ said Tomáš Krupa in an interview for Bratislava.sk
Between the Seas Student Film Competition collects the most significant student films from the Eastern and Central Europe. In this year´s edition will also compete Slovak documentary Mother. Gabriela. Television by Lucia Kašová about two friends who entertain themselves by participating in various TV shows.
Fascinations: Exprmntl.cz is a competition survey of the latest experimental films that touch upon reality and their search for new ways of expressing reality. The selection also contains Extraction by Kateřina Hroníková which shows an analogy between extracted tooth and social exclusion.
An ethnographic study of Easter celebrations Spring in Subcarpathian Ruthenia (d. Karel Plicka) from the collection of the National Film Archive of Slovak Film Institute (SFI) will be screened within Czechoslovak Orient section.
This year´s Slovak participant of Emerging Producers, a promotional and educational project that brings together talented European documentary film producers is Wanda Adamík Hrycová (Wandal Production).
Rastislav Steranka, Director of National Cinematographic Centre will take part in discussion Visegrad Accelerator: Future of Film in Central Europe.
Slovak films in the programme:
Mother. Gabriela. Television | October 26 | 11. 00 | DKO II Cinema
Talks with TGM | October 26 | 22.30 | DKO I Cinema
My Unknown Soldier | October 27 | 12. 00 | DKO II Cinema
Extraction | October 27 | 12. 30 | Horácké Theater – Main Stage
The Last Self-portrait | October 27 | 13. 30 | DKO I Cinema
Talks with TGM | October 27 | 17. 30 | Horácké Theater – Main Stage
Spring in Subcarpathian Ruthenia | October 29 | 10. 00 | DIOD
The Good Death | October 29 | 16.00 | Horácké Theater – Main Stage
The Good Death | October 29 | 20. 00 | DKO I Cinema
Mother. Gabriela. Television | October 29 | 22. 30 | Dukla Cinema – Edison
My Unknown Soldier | October 30 | 17. 00 | DKO II Cinema
Related articles:
2017: Ji.hlava opens with The Lust for Power by Tereza Nvotová
2016: A strong presence of Slovak films in Jihlava
2015: Ji.hlava 2015 starts
