Living Water

At the Visions du Réel Fesetival (15-25 April, 2021), director and producer Pavel Borecký will internationally introduce his documentary debut Living Water, which focuses on Jordanian nomads whose quality of life depends on complex water infrastructure. Bedouins, farmers and city dwellers, they all expect to have a fair share, but digging for “blue gold” unleashes environmental timebomb.

The film is selected for the Visions' National Competition in which it was included due to a co-production contribution from Switzerland (University of Bern). Other significant co-producers are Veronika Janatková's Pandistan (CZ) and University of Jordan (JO).

Living Water also takes part in the CPH:SCIENCE section of the Danish CPH:DOX International Documentary Film Festival (21 April-2 May, 2021), an ambitious programme which targets on tech, research and natural science.

Borecký's debut, which celebrated a world premiere at the Ji.hlava IDFF 2020, will also participate in the Movies That Matters (Amsterdam, 16-25 April, 2021).

Gorbachev. Heaven

The Grand Angle section of the Visions du Réel festival, focused on films that have already wowed audiences at other festivals, give its floor to Latvian-Czech co-production documentary Gorbachev. Heaven, produced by Natalia Manskaya of Vertov and co-produced by Hypermarket Film (CZ), Czech Television (CZ) and also with contribution from ARTE (DE, FR) and Current Time TV (USA).

The film, in which celebrated director Vitaly Mansky (Putin's Witnesses, best documentary at KVIFF 2018) presents the final testimony of 90-years-old former president of the Soviet Union, is also included in the selection of the CPH:DOX (Highlights).

Gorbachev. Heaven received the main prize at the IDFA's Feature-length competition last fall. The film was backed by the Czech Film Fund as a minority co-production with EUR 58 000.

A Marriage

A Marriage will celebrate world premiere within this year’s lineup of the The Changing Face of Europe: New European Documentaries. The programme initiated by the European Film Promotion in co-operation with Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, puts a focus on outstanding documentary productions from Europe, but it also secures intensive and valuable industry activities for selected professionals, including workshops, pitches and meetings with potential buyers.

Unconventional story of Zdenka from the Czech Republic and her Pakistani husband Tabish, is directed and produced by Kateřina Hager & Asad Faruqi (Bohemian Productions) and co-produced by Czech Television (CZ) and Circus Lion Pictures (US). The Czech Film Fund supported the film with EUR 77 000.

Blix

In addition, Greta Stocklassa's second feature, Blix, will be pitched at the Hot Docs Forum, North America's most effective international documentary market. A portrait of Swedish pensioner and former politician and diplomat, which is produced by Radovan Síbrt & Alžběta Karásková of PINK and co-produced by Sisyfos Film Production AB (SE), was backed by the Czech Film Fund with EUR 96 000. Radovan Síbrt has participated in the above mentioned programme The Changing Face of Europe last year with his film Two Roads.