Ji.hlava 24

BDE takes a closer look at Dmytro Hreshko’s documentary Divia, pitched at this year’s New Visions Forum, hosted by Jihlava 2024. The film, fully financed and currently in post-production, examines the environmental impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine. “It’s hard to put some emotions into words because most of them are inside this project,” said Hreshko. “It’s really personal, and it’s hard to realise how many natural resources have been destroyed, mined, or occupied by Russian military forces.”

At Ji.hlava 2024, Business Doc Europe chatted with Michal Sikora, one of this year’s Emerging Producers. A Czech producer based in Prague, he established his company, Lonely Production, nine years ago during his studies at FAMU. During our conversation, Sikora discussed his new projects and the joys and pains of the producer’s job.

The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival and Czech entrepreneur Jan Barta have joined forces to support outstanding auteur filmmaking from Central and Eastern Europe with the launch of the Ji.hlava/JB Films support scheme. Three recipients of support totalling €110,000 were announced October 30 during the Industry Days of the 28th Ji.hlava IDFF.

At Ji.hlava 2024, writer-producer-director Maté Konkol and producer Balász Zachar pitched their timely new doc project, titled Books Are Our Weapons. Set in Hungary, the feature delves into life within a socially committed student commune. “Today, we all feel that young adults are aware of living in a society ruled by patriarchy and capitalism. They want to change things and their ways of life,” says Konkol of the project that is nearing completion.

The programme offers more than three hundred films and includes a revealing retrospective of Swiss filmmaker Anne Marie Miéville and a showcase of award-winning Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang. The festival will be attended by director Kirsten Johnson, the author of this year's Ji.hlava festival trailer, and directors Roberto Minervini, Albert Serra and Andrei Ujică. The 28th IDFF Ji.hlava will take place on October 25 – Nov 3.

On 29 October, Ji.hlava IDFF’s Industry Hub hosted a presentation and short previews of nine brand new Czech documentary films selected for the festival’s National Competition, all introduced by their authors. The showcase was hosted by Czech Television Deputy Editor-in-Chief Diana Tabakov. Czech Joy is the competition section for the best Czech documentary, celebrating “diversity of themes and cinematic expression.”

Haunted by the silence that defined his father’s life, director André Robert seeks to confront the legacy of intergenerational violence burdening the men in his family in his feature doc, currently in post-production and pitched at New Visions Forum. “I’m a queer filmmaker; I’m sure you know what ‘remaining silent’ means,” he told the professional audience at Ji.hlava.

“I think I always try to see which form benefits which narrative, story, or topic. For me, it’s always organic,” Ji.hlava IDFF Emerging Producer Mariia Ponomarova tells BDE of her willingness to work across both documentary and fiction. “I studied in a film school in Ukraine where they taught us both, and I never had this idea of choosing one over the other. That’s why I’m going to work on my first hybrid film. […] I like switching hats, and it sometimes gives me necessary distance.”

Oscar-winning Czech director Marie Dvořáková felt a natural sense of identification with photographer Marie Tomanová, the subject of her exuberant new doc World Between Us (a world premiere this week in Ji.hlava’s Czech Joy section). Like Tomanová, she too had left the Czech Republic behind to pursue her artistic career in the bohemian melting pot of New York. “I think her story mirrors the stories of thousands of people, artists who came to New York to fulfil their dreams - and I am actually one of them!” Dvořáková tells BDE.

Running October 29 to November 1, Industry Days highlights include the New Visions Forum and Market, the Emerging Producers presentation of 18 up-and-coming European film producers, the Festival Identity workshop and creative hub for film festival representatives, and the Matchmaking Accelerator during which 500+ one-on-one meetings will take place. And more…