International Competition

The first of two Czech films in the International Competition is Father by Tereza Nvotová. The films was produced by Veronika Paštéková and Anton Škreko for DANAE Production (Slovakia), together with Karel Chvojka and Miloš Lochman of moloko film (Czech Republic), who has co-produced both Nvotová´s award-winning films Filthy and Nightsiren, and Marta Gmosińska and Mariusz Wlodarski from Lava Films (Poland), in co-production with Czech Television and TV JOJ. The film received production support from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Audiovisual Fund, and the Polish Film Institute. Father world premiered at the 2025 Venice IFF.

Second Czech film in the International Competition is Anorgasmia by Jon Einarsson Gustafsson, a Canadian-Icelandish-Czech drama, produced by Karolina Lewicka for Artio Films (IS), Jon Einarsson Gustafsson for Great Canadian Film Factory Inc., and Jakub Rálek for the Czech production company BFILM.cz. The film received support from the Czech Audiovisual Fund and will be screened at Warsaw in the international premiere.

Competition 1-2

The Competition 1-2 program offers three Czech films. The first one is Broken Voices directed and written by Ondřej Provazník, known for his earlier work Old-Timers (2019), co-directed with Martin Dušek. The film is produced by Jiří Konečný of endorfilm in co-production with Ivan Ostrochovský of Slovak production outfit Punkchart films, with additional backing by Czech Television, innogy, and Barrandov Studio, and the financial support by the Czech Audiovisual Fund. Set in the early 1990s, the film follows thirteen-year-old Karolína, an outsider who dreams of joining the prestigious girls’ choir. In her pursuit of acceptance, she tries to win the favor of the choir’s charismatic conductor, Mácha. What begins as an innocent ambition soon takes a darker turn. The story is inspired by real-life events, particularly the infamous case of Bohumil Kulínský, the former choirmaster of the renowned Czech children's choir Bambini di Praga. The film saw it's world premiere at Karlovy Vary IFF earlier this year, and will have it's Polish premiere at Warsaw.

Another featured film is Caravan by Zuzana Kirchnerová, a poetic road movie about freedom, the different forms of love, and an urgent desire to finally start living instead of merely surviving, which will see a Polish premiere at Warsaw. The film, which premiered at Cannes this year, is produced by Dagmar Sedláčková of MasterFilm, with Slovak company nutprodukcia and Italian production firm Tempesta participating as co-producers. Additional partners include Czech Television, STVR: Slovak Television and Radio, Amygdala Pictures, and Innogy. The Czech Audiovisual Fund supported the film for production and through the production incentive programme. Caravan marked a long-anticipated return of Czech cinema to the competitive sections of the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first majority Czech feature in Un Certain Regard in three decades.

And the last featured films in Competition 1-2 selection is Hunger Strike Breakfast directed by Karolis Kaupinis and produced by Marija Razgute of M-films in co-production with Mikuláš Novotný of Background Films, and Aija Bērzina of Tasse Film. The film tells the story of Lithuanian Television employees declaring a hunger strike in protest of the Soviet takeover of the television in 1991. Hunger Strike Breakfast received support from Eurimages, Czech Audiovisual Fund, Creative Europe - MEDIA, Lithuanian Film Centre, and National Film Centre of Latvia.

BOOM Generation

BOOM Generation program, wchich offers free screenings for seniors, features State of Emergency directed by Jan Hřebejk and produced by Miloslav Šmídmajer of Bio Illusion in co-production with Baarwood Films. This conversational comedy drama is a parable about the entrance of misinformation and lies into the public space and our everyday lives.

Warsaw Co-Production Forum

Five Czech film projects will participate in this year’s Warsaw Co-Production Forum. The projects will be presented to both Polish and international film industry professionals on October 15 & 16 as part of Warsaw Industry Days.

Projects in development:

• Blue Helmet (SK, CZ), dir. Palo Korec, prod. Miša Jelenek, Palo Jelenek / ART4, Vojtěch Frič / love.FRAME
• Scars (CZ, PL), dir. Pavel Nosek, prod. Šimon Holý, Kateřina Dvořáková / První řada, Marta Krzeptowska / ORKA Film
• To Move Mountains (CZ), dir. Anna Wowra, Vojtěch Novotný, prod. Hana Šormová, Tomáš Hrubý / nutprodukce

Works in Progress:

• Chica Checa (CZ, FR, SK), dir. Šimon Holý, prod. Alžběta Janáčková / Silk Films, Fred Bellaiche, Alexis Dantec / The Frech Connection, Silvia Panáková / Arinafilm, Jaroslav Sedláček / Česká televize
• Flood, (SK, CZ, PL, BE), dir. Martin Gonda, prod. Katarína Krnáčová / Silverart, Viktor Schwarcz / Cineart TV Prague, Izabela Igel / Harine Films, Henry Gillet / The Y-House Films