The 27th edition of Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (October 24 – 29, 2023) will showcase multiple Slovak films, including the new ones by Jaro Vojtek and Vera Lacková.
Two Slovak films were selected for the main competition Opus Bonum – both will be shown in world premiere: The Third End of the Stick, directed by Jaro Vojtek, follows lives of multiple queer Romanis, while You Will Never See It All, directed by Štěpán Pech, explores life and work of Czech conceptual artist Ján Mančuška.
You Will Never See It All is also up for the best Czech documentary award. Czech Joy competition includes another two Slovak films in world premiere: Haruna Honcoop’s doc about impact of Olympic architecture on cities Olympic Halftime and Marta Kovářová’s film about her father Jiří Svoboda’s fight for climatic justice The World According to My Dad. Audience in Jihlava can also see O Baripen about renowned Romani writer Elena Lacková, directed by her namesake Vera Lacková; and two festival darlings: Notes from Eremocene (dir. Viera Čákanyová) and Photophobia (dir. Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík).
Young generation will showcase their talent with multiple short films. Robert Mihály’s The Most Beautiful Corner in the World, which examines Slovak nationalism, was selected for Short Joy competition, while Beyond Anachronism: Eons of the Binary (Film), an essay on digital age and nostalgia by Claude Johann Čierny, was selected for Fascinations: Exprmntl.cz. Non-competitive First Lights section dedicated to student films includes audio-visual diary Dialogues by Peter Podolský, an intimate farewell to the grandparents Constant – an Homage to the Apartment by Paula Ďurinová, and a portrait of a successful MMA fighter Lucia Krajčovič Vale tudo by Tereza Smetanová.
The last Slovak film in the programme is the doc on Alexander Dubček All Men Become Brothers by Robert Kirchhoff, which was selected for Czech Television Documentaries.
Slovak projects and talent will be part of the Industry programme as well. Three projects will be presented at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: Europe: 600 Raids (dir. Kristína Leidenfrostová), If Pigeons Turned to Gold (dir. Pepa Lubojacki), and Marathon (dir. Peter Kerekes). Another two projects were selected for Ji.hlava New Visions Co-production Market: The Other One (dir. Marie-Magdalena Kochová) and Beyond a Knit Cap (dir. Violette Deffontaines). Young producer Matej Sotník will benefit from the Emerging Producers training and networking programme.
