Film festivals in the Czech Republic

Film festivals in the Czech Republic

Film festivals in the Czech Republic

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Founded in: 1946
Event Date: 28 June  - 6 July 2024
Location: Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
President: Jiří Bartoška
Artistic Director: Karel Och

Contact
Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary
Panská 1
110 00 Praha 1
Česká republika
Tel: + 420 221 411 011 nebo 22
Fax: + 420 221 411 033
Email: festival@kviff.com
Web: www.kviff.com

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and the most prestigious such festival in Central and Eastern Europe. It is one of the oldest A-list film festivals (i.e., non-specialized festivals with a competition for feature-length fiction films), a category it shares with the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, San Sebastian, Montreal, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Among filmmakers, buyers, distributors, sales agents, and journalists, KVIFF is considered the most important event in all of Central and Eastern Europe. Every year, the festival presents some 200 films from around the world, and regularly hosts famous and important filmmakers. The Karlovy Vary festival is intended for both film professionals and the general public, and offers visitors a carefully designed programme, excellent facilities and a broad range of other services.

Competitive Sections

Crystal Globe Competition 
A non-specialized international competition of feature-length fiction and documentary films presented as world or international premieres.

Proxima Competition
Offers space to the world’s new voices from across the vast cinematic spectrum. Showcasing works by upcoming filmmakers and adventurous works by renowned auteurs, it aims to complement the Crystal Globe Competition by celebrating contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries. Feature-length fiction and documentary films presented as world or international premieres are eligible.

Non-competitive Sections

Special Screenings
An exclusive selection of international and Czech films presented as premieres and avant-premieres.

Horizons
A selection of the most remarkable contemporary films.

Imagina
Films with an unconventional approach to narration and style; distinctive and radical visions of film language.

Future Frames: Generation NEXT of European Cinema
Ten directors, members of the upcoming generation of young European filmmakers, present their student films. The project is organized in cooperation with European Film Promotion.

Midnight Screenings
A selection of the latest horror and action films, works that look at their genres in new, often humorous, ways.

Out of the Past
Classic, cult, rare and unfairly overlooked films, screened in their original or restored versions.

Tributes, special focuses and retrospectives

Attendance Figures 
Total attendance: 130,000
Accredited guests: 13,000
Film Industry professionals: 1,100
Filmmakers: 400
Journalists: 700

Industry Section
KVIFF Eastern Promises
, the festival's industry section, strives to discover promising and talented filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa, and to connect them with the more than 1,300 distributors, sales agents, producers and festival programmers attending the festival. The festival presents some 200 new films each year, more than a third of which are world or European premieres. As a result, both European and non-European local distributors and major international sales reps rely on KVIFF when searching for new movies. The festival also includes social events for invited film professionals and a laid-back space for networking.

Zlín Film Festival

Founded in: 1961
Event Date: 30 May - 5 June 2024
Location: Zlín, Czech Republic
President: Čestmír Vančura
Artistic Director: Markéta Pášmová

Contact:
FILMFEST
Filmová 174
760 01 Zlín – Kudlov
Czech Republic
Tel.: +420 577 592 275
E-mail: festival@zlinfest.cz
www.zlinfest.cz

Zlín Film Festival is the oldest and largest film festival of its kind in the world. The festival screenings are conducted not only in Zlín, but also in several other towns in the Czech Republic. Each year the festival presents around 300 films from more than 50 countries around the world.  Since 2010 festival attendance has exceeded 95,000 children and adults. The mission and goal of the Zlín Film Festival is the presentation of contemporary world film for children and youth in the Czech Republic as well as an exhibition of Czech films. An important aspect of the festival is not only the effort to entertain young audiences, but to also – through film – to educate, expand their awareness of the outside world, and develop esthetic, social and moral perceptions. The Zlín Film Festival is an active member of the European Children's Film Association.  ZFF organizes an extensive supporting, professional and charitable program.

Competitive Sections

  • International Competition of Feature Films for Children
  • International Competition of Feature Films for Juniors (11+)
  • International Competition of Feature Films for Youth (15+)
  • International Competition of Short Animation for Children (up to 12 years of age)
  • Competition of European Documentary Films for Young Audience
  • International Competition of Student Films Zlín Dog

Non-competitive Sections

  • Panorama
  • Czech Films and TV Programmes
  • Young Stars
  • thematic sections

Attendance Figures 
Total attendance: 120,000
Accredited guests: 2,264

Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

Founded in: 1997
Event Date: 24 - 29 October 2023
Location: Jihlava, Czech Republic
Festival Director: Marek Hovorka

Contact:
DOC.DREAM​
Karlovo náměstí 285/19
120 00 Praha 2
Czech Republic
E-mail: info@ji-hlava.cz
www.ji-hlava.cz

Ji.hlava IDFF is the largest festival of creative documentary films in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing not only on Czech and CEE films, but also on experimental and contemporary world documentaries. The festival is a meeting place for the documentary filmmakers connected with the Ji.hlava Industry Programme. The festival is a co-founder of Doc Alliance, a network of European documentary film festivals; its website (www.dafilms.com) offers an online gateway to more than 1400 documentary films.

Competitive Sections

Opus Bonum
A competition section for the best world documentary films presented in world, international or European premieres.

Testimonies
Testimonies is a competition section dedicated to powerful documentary films which deal with important social, economic, environmental, and political phenomena.

Czech Joy
A competition section for the best Czech documentary, celebrating diversity of themes and cinematic expression.

Short Joy
Short Joy is a competition section for the most remarkable world documentary shorts.

Fascinations & Fascinations Exprmntl.cz
Fascinations is a prestigious competition section for best world and Czech experimental documentary films. Exploration of new forms, approaches, and film language.

Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality competition gives viewers the chance to enter into 360° films and spatial installations. Here, you can find 360° documentary films, VR installations and works on the boundary between film and art that make use of virtual spaces to create autonomous worlds whose own rules are determined by visuality. We are interested in works that take advantage of the characteristics of virtuality in an innovative and contemplative manner, that experiment with the audiovisual representation of reality and real stories, or that build an entertaining and instructive world of knowledge and learning.

Non-competitive Sections

Constellations
Special Event
Siren Test
Reality TV
Doc Alliance Selection
FAMU Presents
Czech Television Documentaries
My Street Films
Masterclass
Game Zone
First Lights

 

Industry programme:
Jihlava New Visions Forum - an event is dedicated to the new generation of European producers, new formats, innovative trends, and visions for the future. The programme is open to diverse audiovisual formats
Emerging Producers – industry flagship of the festival, a workshop presenting talented European documentary producers
Festival Identity -  a Ji.hlava IDFF’s platform for representatives of film festivals that aims at strengthening collaboration among film festivals, encouraging know-how exchange, and building the film festivals' community
Visegrad Accelerator - an initiative aimed at interconnecting professionals from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland
Czech Joy in the Spotlight - presentation and short previews of brand new Czech documentary films selected to the festival’s Czech Joy competition section, introduced by their authors

Attendance Figures 
Total attendance: 4500
Film professionals: 1000

One World

Founded in: 1992
Event date: 20 – 128 March 2024
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Director: Ondřej Kamenický
Head of Programme: Tomáš Poštulka

Contact
People in Need
Šafaříkova 24
120 00 Prague 2
Czech Republic
Tel.: +420 226 200 400
E-mail: info@oneworld.cz
www.oneworld.cz

The largest human rights documentary film festival in the world. The festival works with a broad definition of human rights - the programme also includes films dealing with social issues, the environment and lifestyles. Besides Prague, the festival presents its films in more than 30 other cities around the Czech Republic.

Competitive Sections

International Competition
The International Competition traditionally offers the newest and most hotly anticipated films that combine powerful themes with original cinematography.

Right to Know
The section offers audiences stories about fundamental human rights violations that should not go unnoticed. The category provides space to films about inspiring activists who are battling to improve conditions in their countries.

Czech Competition
A selection of brand new Czech documentaries dealing with human rights.

One World Interactive
A selection of latest interactive and VR projects from all over the world.

Non-competitive Thematic Sections (names of the sections change)

Industry Programme
East Doc Platform, the largest documentary event in the region organised by the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) presenting  documentary projects

Attendance Figures
Total attendance: 120,000
Professionals: 400

Anifilm

Founded in: 2002
Event date: 7 – 12 May 2024
Location: Liberec, Czech Republic
Director: Tomáš Rychetský
Artistic Director: Pavel Horáček

Contact
Anifilm
Slezká 134
130 00 Praha 3
Czech Republic
info@anifilm.cz
www.anifilm.cz

Anifilm’s mission is to present current trends, methods, technologies and animation techniques in its programme.
It also supports works in progress and brand new animation projects and their authors, producers and distributors. Film professionals from all over the world can use Anifilm as a platform for positive confrontation and meeting place for forging new contacts. Anifilm is aimed at authors and film professionals as well as students, educators, film theorists and all fans of animated production, including children. Anifilm also wants to represent the Czech Republic in international context on a long-term basis.

Competitive Sections

International Competition

  • Feature Film
  • Short Film
  • Student Film
  • Abstract and Non-narrative Animation
  • Music Video
  • VR
  • Computer Game

Czech Horizon (national competition)

  • Short and Feature Film
  • Student Film
  • Series
  • Music Video
  • Comissioned Work

Non-competitive sections
Thematic Sections
Retrospectives
Jury Programme
Midnight Animation
Dust Classic Off
Taking Stock and Special Screenings
Animo

Industry Programme
Masterclasses, workshops, works in progress, presentations and lectures by internationally renowned film professionals. AniMarket is a job market oriented to animation studios and schools and also VFX, game development or VR/AR companies from CEE countries.

Attendance Figures
Total attendance: 30,000
Film professionals: 1000

Pragueshorts Film Festival

Founded in: 2005
Event date: 28 February – 3 March 2024
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Programme Director: Karel Spěšný

Contact
Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary
Panská 1
110 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
Email: info@pragueshorts.com
www.pragueshorts.com

Pragueshorts Film Festival is organized by Film Servis Karlovy Vary, the organizer of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Pragueshorts Film Festival  is a competitive festival of short films. Its aim is to contribute to the development and promotion of artistic short films and their production.

Competitive Sections

  • International Competition of short films of up to 30 minutes
  • National Competition of short films of up to 30 minutes
  • Labo Competition of short experimental films of up to 20 minutes

Non-competitive Sections

  • Brutal Relax Show
  • programs for the kids
  • non-competitive informative film sections, retrospectives, biographies, tributes and other accompanying events (the length of films in non-competitive informative sections must not exceed 30 minutes)
BRNO16

Founded in: 1960
Event date: 18 – 22 October 2023
Location: Brno
Director: Milan Šimánek

Contact
TIC Brno
Radnická 365/2
602 00 Brno
Czech Republic
e-mail: festival@brno16.cz
www.brno16.cz

BRNO16 is an international short film festival. It is one of the oldest film festivals in the Czech Republic and has been going on uninterrupted since 1960. At the same time, it is also one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. BRNO16 presents various kinds of short films - live action, animation, experimental, student, professional and also non-professional (up to 30 min). Besides the prestigious competition, festival offers different kinds of activities in the off-programme - exhibitions, discussions or workshops. Each year we welcome various Czech and foreign guests, with whom you can discuss their films and professional experience.

The 16 in the name of our festival refers to 16mm film, in past one of most common film gauges in the industry and also at our festival. This film gauge is rarely used nowadays, since most films are now screened from digital formats (16mm appears exclusively in retrospective sections), the name however stuck as a tradition.

Competition Sections

International Competition
Czechoslovakian 16
(national competition)
 

Finále Plzeň

Founded in: 1968
Event Date: 22 - 27 September 2023
Location: Plzeň, Czech Republic
Director: Eva Veruňková Košařová
Artistic Director: Lenka Tyrpáková

Contact
Film Servis Plzeň
DEPO2015
Presslova 14
301 00 Plzeň
Czech Republic
Email: recepce@festivalfinale.cz
www.festivalfinale.cz

Finále Plzeň Festival is a week-long film festival focusing solely on Czech films, a seven-day-long national festival of films, documentaries, TV & student works. The Festival organized in September offers a curatorial selection of current Czech cinematography that the audience should not miss. Many movies run through the cinemas faster than the viewer can even notice, some will not even make it to the cinemas at all, and certainly not with the participation of numerous delegations of actors and creators. The programme includes about a hundred domestic films, from previews, premieres and films with minor Czech co-production to overviews of important and resonating films of our neighbours. Winning films are selected by a foreign expert jury, which also provides a different perspective in a purely Czech environment and on Czech cinema.

Competitive Sections

  • Golden Kingfisher - Feature Live Action or Animated Films Competition
  • Golden Kingfisher – Documentary Films Competition
  • Golden Kingfisher – Feature and Mini-serial TV and Internet Production Competition
  • Golden Kingfisher – Student Short Film Competition

Non-competitive Sections

  • In the Nets
  • First Catch
  • Czech Traces
  • Manipulation by Power
  • Special Feature
  • Short Films
  • German Cinema
  • ZOOM

Industry Program

The industry program of the festival consists of panel discussions, location tours and various networking events. Moreover, the Czech Film Center organizes together with the festival a two-day special closed program of pitching of Czech projects in early development called Czech Film Springboard. Learn more about it here.

Queer Film Festival Mezipatra

Founded in: 2000
Event Date: 2 - 9 November 2023 (Prague), 10 - 17 November 2023 (Brno)
Location: Prague & Brno, Czech Republic
Director: Pavel Bicek
Head of Programme: Kristýna Genttnerová

Contact
QFF Mezipatra
Francouzská 284/94
101 00 Praha
info@mezipatra.cz
www.mezipatra.cz

Mezipatra is  a queer film festival organized by non-profit organizations Mezipatra and STUD Brno. Every year, we introduce around a hundred Czech and foreign films centred around LGBTQ+ issues, and their creators. The films are apprised by a professional jury as a part of a prestigious international competition. Inherent part of the program are the accompanying discussions, lectures, workshops, exhibitions and parties. The festival's main part takes place in Prague and Brno, and its echoes follow in selected towns across the Czech Republic.

Competition Sections

  • International Feature Film Competition
  • International Short Film Competition

Non-competitive Sections

  • Documentary Section
  • Retrospective
  • Queer Kino Presents
  • Queer Blender

Czech Film Center
division of the Czech Film Fund promoting Czech cinema worldwide

Email: info@filmcenter.cz
 

 

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