Founded: 1966
Event Date: 23 - 28 April 2024
Location: Olomouc
Director: Eva Navrátilová
Head of Programming: Ondřej Kazík

Contact
Arts Centre of Palacký University
Univerzitní 225/3
779 00 Olomouc
afo@afo.cz
afo.cz

The international festival of science documentary films has been organised by Palacký University, Olomouc since 1966. In the course of the years, the small-scale private meeting has transformed into one of the biggest scientific events in Europe. It is the only festival in the Czech Republic, which provided a space for a get-together of such famous scientists as evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro and philosopher and AI theorist Susan Schneider. Programme of the festival focuses on progressive factual films and documentary films, discussions and lectures exploring various hot topics. From research of distant planets, Earth’s oceans and global warming through the development of robotics and artificial intelligence all the way to the position of women in science and society or life online and addictions. The driving force behind the festival organisation is mostly current and former students of Palacký University. Organising the festival is a real challenge for the festival production team, helping with the organisation, students of the university can learn a lot and develop new skills. Thus, AFO has become not only a significant science festival on the European scale but also an established educational platform. 

Competitive Sections

• International Competition
• Czech & Slovak Competition
• Short Film Competition

Non-competitive Sections

• various thematic sections and tributes
• VR Zone
• AFO Junior

Founded: 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

Founded: 1960
Event date: 2 - 6 October 2024
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)
 

Founded: 1974
Event Date: 1 - 6 October 2024
Location: Brno
Director: Ladislav Miko
Programming: Jitka Kotrlová

Contact
Key promotion
Kazaňská 121/1
102 00 Praha
www.ekofilm.cz

EKOFILM is an international film festival about the environment, natural and cultural heritage. It brings a wide range of viewers the latest findings about the condition of nature and the environment in various countries of the world and in many cases facts about dealing with serious issues. EKOFILM is gaining increasing acclaim at international level. It is among the oldest environmental film festivals in the world and is a significant platform for encounters between the general public and film creators, experts and the state administration. Documentary, fiction, animated and experimental films from around the world, focussed on protecting the environment, natural and cultural heritage, issues of sustainable development and other environmental issues can be registered to participate.

Competitive Sections

• Beauty of Nature
• Visions of Nature (medium length up to 60 min)
• In Short (max. 20 min)

Founded: 2018
Event Date: 6 - 10 September 2024
Location: Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic) & Dresden (Germany)
Director: Filip Kršiak

Contact
bujón
Červenkova 524/8
Praha 8
elbedock.cz

The ELBE DOCK International Film Festival is a competitive showcase of the best short films (fiction, animation, documentary and experimental) from Central Europe and since 2024 also from Scandinavia. The Pavel Koutecký Award is closely linked to the festival and is awarded to the best Czech documentary first or second film by a filmmaker in both the feature and short film sections. The competition programme is complemented by a selection of the best European feature debuts and other accompanying programmes. For students, the festival offers special educational workshops and discussions with professionals. As a part of its programme in Dresden ELBE DOCK draws attention to the Czech film scene while at the same time showcasing the contemporary German films. In its rich accompanying program ELBE DOCK seeks to involve residents and local artists, open up forgotten or unconventional spaces and share the film scene with the wide public.

Connecting Czech and German culture and promoting Central European dialogue in the field of audiovisual production is one of the main goals of the festival. Setting ELBE DOCK in the German Saxony and the Czech Ústí nad Labem region is intended to stimulate the development of cultural infrastructure and film audiences in a border industrial area that has long been neglected in this respect. The partnership with Germany brings another dimension of international cooperation to the festival, which has the potential to mutually inspire cultural events in both regions in the long term.

Competitive Sections

• Pavel Koutecký Award for Best Czech First or Second Short Documentary
• Pavel Koutecký Award for Best Czech First or Second Feature Documentary
• Competition of Central European Short Films

Founded: 1968
Event Date: 20 - 25 September 2024
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.

Founded: 1997
Event Date: 25 October - 3 November 2024
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

Founded: 2008
Event Date: 8 - 13 November 2024
Location: Domažlice, Klatovy, Horšovský Týn, Dobřany, Přeštice
Director: Judita Soukupová
Programme Director: Mikołaj Góralik

Contact:
JUNIORFEST
International Film Festival for Children and Youth
Spojovací 827 
334 41 Dobřany
info@juniorfest.cz
www.juniorfest.cz

JUNIORFEST is the second largest film festival for children and young audiences in the Czech Republic. It is held in five cities of the Pilsen Region. JUNIORFEST offers not only a variety of competition and non-competition features but also many non-traditional supporting events that have won favour of the children visitors. The festival is annually visited by over 20,000 people. 

Competition Sections

• International Competition of Animated Feature Films for Children (5-12 years)
• International Competition of Feature Films for Children (5-11 years)
• International Competition of Feature Films for Young People (12-16 years)

Non-competitive Sections

• New Czech Films
• Special Screenings
• Panorama
• Evening Perspectives
• Series

Founded: 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.

Founded: 2016
Event Date: 11 - 14 July 2024
Location: Mariánské lázně
Director: Zuzana Stejskalová
Programme Director: Tomáš Vobořil

Contact
Marienbad Film
Husova 212
353 01 Velká Hleďsebe
info@marienbadfilmfestival.com
marienbadfilmfestival.com

Marienbad Film Festival is an international film festival focusing on film works of experimental nature, fringe forms of cinema, contemporary moving image and artistic and more challenging films. It creates an opportunity for the meeting of independent and experimental filmmakers, artists using the moving image, but also strives to make more challenging films accessible to a wider audience. It brings guests and films of international importance and presents the audience with important works from the present and the history of world cinema that experiment with form and narrative. It is an integral part of the cultural program of the city of Mariánské Lázně, long-term supports the local cultural background and connects the activities of cultural associations and local cultural organizers.

Competitive Sections

Forum Marienbad

• Main Competition
• Audiovisual Essays

Non-competitive Sections

• Selection
• Patterns / Masters

Founded: 1992
Event date: 20 – 28 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

Founded: 2009
Event Date: 15 - 19 November 2023
Location: Ostrava
Director: Gabriela Knýblová

Contact
Kamera Oko
Vítězné náměstí 774/14
160 00 Praha 6
ostravakameraoko.com

International cinematography film festival Ostrava Kamera Oko has been regularly taking place since 2009 in Ostrava. It is focused on the presentation of cinematographic work of significant personas from the Czech republic or abroad. A part of the main programme there is a best cinematography competition of films and short films, presentation of filmmakers or industry section that connects film experts and students from European film schools. Another part of the programme is location tour, notable music programme, lectures and exhibitions. The specific part of the festival is using unconventional, mostly industrial locations for site-specific screenings.

Competitive Sections

• Official Selection
• Short Film Competition

Founded: 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)

Founded: 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, the festival introduces 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

Founded: 1975
Event Date: 26 July - 1 August 2024
Location: Uherské Hradiště
Director: Radana Korená
Programme Director: Iva Hejlíčková

Contact
Asociace českých filmových klubů
Stonky 860
686 01 Uherské Hradiště
lfs.cz

Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště is the largest non-competitive film festival in the Czech Republic attracting thousands of visitors every year. They come to watch films, meet up with guests and friends and enjoy the unique atmosphere of the festival. Summer Film School is an annual presentation of remarkable filmmakers (Mike Leigh, Peter Greenaway, Emir Kusturica, Kaurismäki brothers, Carlos Saura…), Czech and international guests and thematic sections that offers an unrepeatable opportunity of being educated in film and with film. The programme consists of screenings, lectures, master classes that are led by significant film personalities, seminars and panel discussions.

Founded: 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

The Czech Republic is also home to various region-focused or thematic film festivals and film showcases.

Region-focused Festivals

• 3Kino Fest | Central European Cinema | www.3kino.cz
• Bardzo fajný festival | Polish cinema | bardzofajny.cz
• Days of European Cinema | www.eurofilmfest.cz
• Das Filmfest | cinema of German-speaking countries | www.dasfilmfest.cz
• Festival du Film Francais | French cinema |  www.festivalff.cz
• Filmasia | Asian cinema | filmasia.cz
• ÍRÁN:CI | Iranian cinema | iranci.cz
• Kino Brasil | Brazilian cinema | www.kinobrasil.cz
• KOLNOA | Israeli cinema | www.kolnoa.cz
• La Película | Spanish cinema | www.lapelicula.cz
• Scandi | cinema of Scandinavian countries | scandifest.cz

Thematic Festivals or Film Showcases

• Be2Can | films premiered at Berlinale, Cannes & Venice | be2can.cz
• FAMUFEST | student films made at FAMU film school | famufest.cz
• Future Gate | horror, fantasy and sci-fi films | futuregate.cz
• Kino na hranici | Czech & Polish films | kinonahranici.cz
• Krrr! | films screened from 70mm film copies | www.krrr.cz
• Noir Film Festival | noir films | www.noirfilmfestival.cz
• The Shockproof Film Festival | horror, extreme, action, gore, camp, B-, C- and even X-rated films | otrlydivak.cz