Oliver Stone (pic: Gage Skidmore)
On 27 October renowned US filmmaker and polemicist Oliver Stone, responsible for the likes of JFK, Platoon and Salvador, will deliver a 100-minute lecture/masterclass at the festival and online. More details to follow.
In his 29 October 120-minute masterclass/lecture 29 October, Russian documentary filmmaker and present-day chronicler of the country Vitaly Mansky (Putin’s Witnesses; Gorbachev. Heaven) will reveal not only how he delves into the archives of Russian history and his own collections of footage, but also how his method turns towards updating the perception of important Russian politicians.
The Polish documentary When Flowers Are Not Silent, about the persistence of hope despite the failure of democracy (and subsequent protests) within Belarus after the parliamentary elections of 2020, will open the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF.
Screening in Opus Bonum competition the doc’s synopsis reads how, in Summer 2020, after incumbent Alexander Lukashenka gained over 80% of all votes in the presidential election, local opposition and the European Union alike called foul on the voting process and a large part of the population rejected the election results. Peaceful mass demonstrations were brutally suppressed, and the intensity of political repressions were raised to the level of the situation before the breakup of the Soviet Union, leading protesters to take to further rallies and freedom marches.
When Flowers Are Not Silent is described as an emotional black-and-white documentary that captures the mood in a country seen from the perspective of several Belorussian families whose members do not fail to hope in a change even after 27 years of Lukashenka’s dictatorship and a great many traumatic experiences.
Filmmaker Kutsila was born in Belarus where he graduated in journalism and fine arts. He deals with the current political and social situation in his country as a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist. He received the Best Medium Feature Documentary Award at 2018 IDFA for his film Summa.
The festival also announced all jurors of the 25th edition as well as its imaginative choice of awards host in 2021, an Artificial Intelligence conceived by renowned Czech-Argentinian visionary artist Federico Díaz.
