Meet the Future

Following last year's spotlight on up-and-coming filmmakers from Moldova, Meet the Future, supported by the Czech Film Fund and made in collaboration with the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF), now shifts attention to emerging talents from the Czech Republic. The presentation, in which the selected filmmakers (see the list below) will have a chance to present themselves and their past and upcoming projects, will be preceded by a pitching training led by Nadja Tennstedt, the director of DOK Industry at DOK Leipzig, Germany. Afterward, the participants will attend meetings with the present film professionals. The presentation will take place on 12 March at 17:00 at the Music Centre of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

The directors and their upcoming projects taking part in this year’s Meet the Future are as follows:

Jana Andert – Shadows of the Mountains
Marie-Magdalena Kochová – The Other One (feature debut)
Anna Kryvenko – This House Is Undamaged
Pepa Lubojacki – If Pigeons Turned to Gold (feature debut)
Viktor Portel – Between Us

Official Selection

Forest
Feature Legth International Competition | World Premiere
PL, CZ 2024, 84 min
dir. Lidia Duda | prod. Michał Ostatkiewicz & Patryk Sielecki – Lumisenta Film Foundation (PL) | co-prod. Michal Sikora – Lonely Production (CZ), Studio Filmowe Rabarbar (PL), Canal+ Poland (PL), Ec1-Łódź-City Of Culture (PL)

Fresh university graduates, Asia and Marek bought an old house near the eastern border of Poland, in the Białowieża Forest, the oldest forest of Europe. This is their own paradise – a place where their children can grow up safely, away from the problems of today’s world. For Marysia, Ignacy and Franek the forest is their second home, tamed and trusted. Yet one day, their forest changes as Strangers and Others show up. Refugees, unwelcome neither in Poland, nor in Belarus. The whole family helps refugees, even though it’s against Polish law. But how can you not help another person in need? The children’s world changes radically. They no longer play a knight and a princess, but a refugee and Border Guards. Big politics came knocking on their door and nothing was the same anymore.

Screenings
12 March | 17:00 | Olympion
13 March | 19:15 | Frida Liappa

Fresh Memories: The Look
Immersive – All Around Cinema
CZ, UA 2023, 10 min
dir. Ondřej Moravec & Volodymyr Kolbasa | prod. Ondřej Moravec – Brainz Studios (CZ) | co-prod. Vadym Makhitka – WAW Production (UA)

Bombed houses, schools, hospitals, streets and many others. War in Ukraine from its beginning has taken away thousands of households and lifes as well. Kharkiv was one of the towns which was hit in a massive way. In this immersive experience in virtual reality you look into the eyes of those who lost their homes or places closely connected with them. What can this simple look awake in us? Will it bring despair, grief or hope?

Screenings take place daily from 13:00 to 21:00 throughout the duration of the Festival. 

Agora Docs in Progress

Ms. President
SK, CZ 2024, in development
dir. Marek Šulík | prod. Barbara Janišová Feglová – Hitchhiker Cinema (SK) | co-prod. Ivo Andrle – Aerofilms (CZ), Alena Müllerová – Czech Television (CZ), Tibor Horváth – Radio and Television Slovakia (SK), Marek Šulík – Filmotras (SK)

Agora Docs in Progress (10-14 March) will showcase 11 film projects currently in post-production, representing 16 countries from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. Find out more here.