Ji.hlava '23

The Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: Europe & U.S. Docs Awards (ten in total) were handed out 27 October as doors closed on this year’s Industry event. Additionally, the festival announced the creation of the Ji.hlava/JB Films co-production project. Next year, up to €110,000 will be distributed to creative documentaries from the region of Central and Eastern Europe.

The Czech docfest revealed September 22 details of its Industry programme running October 25 to 28, that includes pitches of new Czech and international projects, presentations by the EMERGING PRODUCERS 2024 cohort and a range of panel discussions. Organisers also list the nine US projects selected for third Ji.hlava New Visions Forum.

Set against the stunning backdrop of Kyrgyzstan’s vast plains, Janyl Jusupjan’s ironically titled feature doc follows the enterprising and warm-hearted Atirkül as she attempts to carve a place for herself in the intensely masculine traditional team sport of buzkashi, in which horse-riders battle to steal the trophy - in the form of a dead goat - from the rival team of riders, all the time on horseback.

With 357 films across 7 competitive and 11 non-competitive sections, the Ji.hlava programme is particularly intense in 2023, chock full of doc from emerging and established makers alike, and presented to a highly cinephile Czech audience. “We don't think that daring and personal films ignore audiences. Quite the opposite. Documentary film has long been the most diverse and vibrant part of the audiovisual landscape, and interest in it continues to grow,” says festival director Marek Hovorka.

Ji.hlava Industry (Oct 25-29) is gearing up for another four days of pitching, networking and deal-making as 1300 professionals descend upon on the historic Czech town. “We want to be the melting pot for people from across the whole of Europe - north, south, east and west,” says Jarmila Outratová, Head of Industry. Not to mention the cohort of US producers who once again will present their new doc projects during the Ji.hlava’s New Visions Forum.

In French director Clément Deneux’s project, the renowned Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase explores self-acceptance through a bicycle trip love story. “The real-time animated piece that maximizes the medium's potential, offering viewers full freedom of movement and a sense of story participation in a documentary about a feature film that was never produced,” the jury said.

If you’re Estonian, then it’s a great time to be a docmaker, as evidenced by the ongoing acclaim for Anna Hints’ Smoke, Sauna, Sisterhood. Another top Estonian is Liis Nimik, whose Sundial (which she also directed) was selected for the Hot Docs Changing Face of Europe programme in April 2023 and who, this week, has been enjoying the attentions of the international doc community as one of this year’s Emerging Producer cohort this year.

Czech producer/director/festival chief Veronika Janatková talked to Business Doc Europe after she was presented as one of Ji.hlava’s Emerging Producers of 2023. “I believe that through film one can perceive and consider society differently, and pay attention to those that are not in power. Film can be the fuel for action,” she underlines.

Czech filmmaker Petr Jančárek is not apologetic about his huge admiration for former President Václav Havel (1936-2011), the subject of his new feature documentary, Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me?, which opens this year’s Ji.hlava IDFF. “It’s actually true that Havel is perceived differently abroad than at home. Czech society is quite sharply divided between his admirers and those who actually hate him - literally,” the director tells BDE.

Ji.hlava IDFF unveiled its winning films October 29. Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík took home the Best Czech Doc Award, while the Opus Bonum Award for Best World Doc went to Elvis Lenić's Ship from Croatia. Maia Gattás Vargas, the Argentine director, was honoured for her original approach, and Hungarian director Béla Tarr received recognition for his contribution to world cinema.