The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival and Czech entrepreneur have Jan Barta joined forces to support outstanding auteur filmmaking from Central and Eastern Europe by launching the Ji.hlava/JB Films support scheme. The financial support will come in the form of co-production contributions to film projects. Around 3–4 documentary and hybrid films in production or post-production will be supported. One project can receive up to €40,000.
“We want to support the effective distribution of films in both national and international context. We are aware that distributing documentary films has been much more difficult recently, and we want to make it easier for remarkable projects to reach their audiences. We are convinced that these exceptional films can help us understand better the changes and the mounting crises of the world we live in,” comments Ji.hlava IDFF director Marek Hovorka.
By contributing to the selected projects, a share of the future profit will be assigned to Ji.hlava / JB Films and will be subsequently allocated in full to film projects selected in subsequent calls. The aim is to create a tool that will enable repeated support for new films in the region, the festival writes.
“The aim of this new initiative is to support distinctive auteur projects with distribution potential. The profit that the films will make will be used to support other documentaries in the making,” explains the idea Marek Hovorka.
“The Ji.hlava/JB Films is becoming yet another instrument in rich Ji.hlava IDFF Industry activities, which help to nurture the documentary film ecosystem – along with programmes such as Emerging Producers, Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market, First Lights Academy, and Docu Talents from the East,” the festival continues.
The deadline for applications is April 30 and the first supported projects will be announced in summer 2024. The list of eligible countries and other details are available on the Ji.hlava IDFF website.
The 28th Ji.hlava IDFF https://www.ji-hlava.com will extended from six to ten days in 2024, taking place October 25 – November 3 in Jihlava, Czech Republic. The film submissions are currently open.
