Selected Films

Amira's Children

Czech Republic / 2025 / 83 min / World Premiere
dir. Markéta Ekrt Válková / prod. Kateřina Černá – Negativ / co-prod. Česká televize

Amira arrived in Prague with her husband, six children, and memories of the life they left behind in war-torn Syria. Over the course of ten years, we follow the family as they face a challenge for which no one can prepare: her children are growing up between two worlds. As they mature, they speak better Czech than Arabic and find themselves caught between their parents' expectations and their own emerging identities. Their adaptation fills Amira with pride, but also brings doubts. She searches for a real home for her children while trying to figure out how not to lose herself in a foreign country.

CONTACT
Kateřina Černá – Negativ, katerina@negativ.cz

 

AMOOSED: a moose odyssey

Czech Republic, Slovakia / 85 min / World Premiere
dir. Hana Nováková / prod. Kateřina Traburová – LaDamplinque s.r.o. / co-prod. GURU FILM s.r.o., Peter Kerekes – Peter Kerekes Ltd.

Does something like a totem animal exist? And if so, can its call send even a European on a journey following its tracks? In this moose odyssey, the director follows moose-obsessed people (“amoosed”) across the planet — from the hidden moose of former Czechoslovakia, through a Russian domestication station, to Swedish moose safaris, where people live with moose directly i their households, all the way to Nova Scotia in Canada. In the end, it turns out that she was led to distant Canada because the Indigenous Mi'kmaq nation, who consider moose sacred animals and their spirit totem, have an important message for the contemporary world.

CONTACT
Kateřina Trabuová – LaDamplinque, ktraburova@gmail.com

 

Grolich the Great

Czech Republic / 2025 / 68 min / World Premiere
dir. Jakub Ondráček / prod. Jakub Ondráček, Rebeka Fučíková – FAMU

While a few years ago social media and a strong visual identity were a welcome accessory, today they are an essential part of political success. Jan Grolich, Christian Democrat governor of the South Moravia Region, is an example of a politician who has managed to effectively combine traditional values with modern marketing tools. He has gained popularity through his immediacy and perspective. He appears in the same way in Jakub Ondráček's observational documentary. It offers an authentic insight into the behind-the-scenes of Grolich's campaign before the 2024 regional elections, which were disrupted by floods. The camera impartially follows lively discussions about the design of election posters, the distribution of cake to potential voters, and the post-election dilemma of how to deal with results without losing the painstakingly created image of a person who wants to do things his own way.

CONTACT
Marek Koutesh, marek.koutesh@famu.cz

 

Change My Mind

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine / 2025 / 95 min / Czech Premiere
dir. Robin Kvapil / prod. Jakub Drocár, Jakub Pinkava – Punk Film / coprod. Česká televize, Magiclab, NAPA Records, SilverArt, Braha Production Company, Jan Barta

If you felt the war in Ukraine is a hoax, how far would you go for truth? In the documentary feature, CHANGE MY MIND, director Robin Kvapil takes three Czechs, each sympathetic to Putin’s Russia, and they embark on a journey for truth, straight into a war zone. It began with a public casting call: “Do you think the war in Ukraine is a hoax? That the media is lying about the number of casualties and the consequences of the ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine? Come to a casting and become a hero in a new film.” Sixty people responded and three selected participants, Nikola, Ivo and Petra, all of whom sympathize with Putin’s Russia, traveled with director Robin Kvapil and his film crew to Ukraine to pull back the curtain of propaganda and lies, and witness the truth of war.

CONTACT
Jakub Pinkava – Punk Film, jakubpinkava@punkfilm.cz

 

Is It Worth It?!

Czech Republic / 2025 / 92 min / Czech Premiere
dir. Jan Strejcovský / prod. Jakub Wagner – GPO Platform / co-prod. Česká televize, Modified Studio

Art and money. Creativity and market demands. Who makes art and who buys it. These are the stories, sometimes funny, crazy or surreal, of artists, gallery owners and collectors who, amid canvases, giant ready-made artworks and performance art moments, trade a piece of their soul in exchange for a figure on a piece of paper. Evoking Balzac's "Human Comedy", the film examines how the artist becomes a brand—and the investor, human. But where is the line between art and commerce? And what does the public gain from all this? A witty and critical look at the world of contemporary art, combining sharp wit, studies of unusual characters, and sociological investigation into the value of art in our lives. A magnifying glass on what makes us human, leading us to ask ourselves: Is it worth it?!

CONTACT
Jakub Wagner – GPO Platform, wagner@gpoplatform.cz

 

Kapralova

Czech Republic, France / 2025 / 70 min / World Premiere
dir. Petr Záruba / prod. Alice Tabery – Cinepoint / co-prod. Bocalupo Films, Česká televize

Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová was 22 years old when she left to study music in Paris in 1937. Three years later, she died of illness. This documentary, conceived as a dialogue across time and generations, follows in her footsteps. The short but intense period of the composer's life is reconstructed using archival footage and letters full of immediate impressions that the young artist shared with her family in Czechoslovakia. Her legacy is brought to life in parallel thanks to a new generation of conductors, such as Bianca Maretti, who rehearses some of her predecessor's compositions with an orchestra. Kaprálová's portrait thus becomes a tribute to all women who, despite language barriers, prejudices, and their origins, have managed to make their mark in the world of classical music.

CONTACT
Alice Tabery – Cinepoint, tabery.alice@gmail.com

 

Kingdom of Soap Bubbles

Czech Republic / 2025 / 83 min / World Premiere
dir. Taťána Marková / prod. Jarmila Poláková, Jan Bodnár – Film & Sociologie / co-prod. Česká televize, Krutón

In interwar Czechoslovakia the name Schicht was equal in reputation to names such as Škoda, Baťa, Kolben and Daněk. As well as the legendary soap with the stag, the family of industrialists made Elida cosmetics and Ceres fats. The Schichts had a social programme for their employees that was unique for its time. They were pioneers of advertising. They encouraged technological innovation in various fields, including aviation and film – it is thanks to them that the first sound film in the Czech lands was shown in Ústí nad Labem. Historical events, loss of property and home caused the breakup of the family of "Bohemian Germans" and the family business. The family’s descendants are currently scattered all over the world. How do they perceive the Schicht inheritance?

CONTACT
Jarmila Poláková – Film & Sociologie, fas@seznam.cz

 

Minimum Love

Czech Republic / 2025 / 76 min / World Premiere
dir. Maja Penčič / prod. Ondřej Šejnoha – FAMU

Driven by the chaotic energy of Prague’s streets, the film consists of several spontaneous surveys. Together, they paint a picture of widespread apathy, and the values of today’s Czech youth. In addition to the author herself, the film features more or less sober young people who unabashedly share their views on the climate crisis, feminism, and the war in Ukraine, with the camera. But they also talk about the meaning of life, the secrets of good sex and love, the search for (and failure to find) which is one of the central themes of the film.

CONTACT
Maja Penčič, majapencic@proton.me

 

Unborn Father

Czech Republic / 2025 / 83 min / World Premiere
dir. Michal Böhm / prod. Zdeněk Holý – Vernes / co-prod. Studio BEEP

A personal self-portrait of a filmmaker's journey to start a family over several years, captured through Michal's camera lens, as he is both the protagonist and the director. The film begins with a breakup with his girlfriend and her son Mikoláš, whom Michal had come to consider almost his own. After societal struggles and a global pandemic, Michal starts dating Saša, a much younger woman. Their relationship is affected by Michal's mother's serious illness and shaped by his connection to his deceased father. Will he succeed in starting a new family with Saša, who feels too young for parenthood? Unborn Father explores how the desire for parenthood, traditionally associated with women, affects a young man. It raises the question: What does it take to become the father in today's world?

CONTACT
Zdeněk Holý – Vernes, zdenek@vernes.cz

 

Virtual Girlfriends

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria / 2025 / 90 min / World Premiere
dir. Barbora Chalupová / prod. Pavla Klimešová – Helium Film / co-prod. Super film, Soul Food

They say you can't put a price on love—on OnlyFans, you can. This thought-provoking documentary reveals the consequences of selling and exposing your identity online and explores how virtual relationships impact real-life ones.

CONTACT
Pavla Klimešová – Helium Film, pavla@heliumfilm.cz

 

Voice of the Forest

Slovakia, Czech Republic / 2025 / 74 min / Czech Premiere
dir. Zuzana Piussi / prod. Zuzana Piussi – Ultrafilm, Vít Janeček – VIRUSfilm, D1film / co-prod. STVR

The forest is cultivated with a saw. At least that’s still what forestry schools teach. But what does a healthy forest actually need? Foresters and hunters see the forest as an agricultural commodity and nature as something that must be constantly regulated and managed. On the other side stand conservationists – advocates of non-intervention, who believe the forest can take care of itself without us. Where does private ownership stand in this conflict? And is a human’s right to use natural resources in their surroundings superior to the bear’s right to do the same? Slovak forests have become a battleground – but also a proxy issue of a social conflict that runs much deeper than it first appears.

CONTACT
Vít Janeček – D1film, vit@d1film.com

 

More about Czech Joy in the Spotlight

The "Czech Joy in the Spotlight" showcase at the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival is a platform that brings attention to prominent Czech documentaries featured in the Czech Joy competitive section. It typically includes films that have garnered attention for their artistic quality, social relevance, or cinematic innovation, covering a wide range of themes that reflect contemporary Czech society, culture, and issues of global interest. The showcased films often delve into topics such as personal identity, social and political history, and cultural heritage, offering viewers a window into Czech perspectives on universal themes.