Ji.hlava IDFF has announced the 14 new European documentary projects that will be presented at the 3rd edition of the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum, running on October 26 and 27.
The festival also unveiled this year’s pre-screening ‘spot’ trailer, made by the legendary Catalan filmmaker and iconoclast Albert Serra (see below).
The New Visions Forum will feature projects in development as well as in production and post-production, and will include diverse genres and audiovisual formats – such as documentary series, hybrid, experimental, and short films. “In our selection process, we focus on the artistic vision of the project, its originality and author-driven character, visual style and fresh spirit, international potential in terms of financing and development of collaboration, openness for sharing the project with other partners, as well as diverse modes of distribution,” write organisers.
This year, the Forum is supported by several new partners who will bestow cash and in-kind awards to the most promising projects of the Forum: AmDocs (USD 7,000), Current Time TV (USD 2,000), FilmAid (USD 2,000), with services provided by UPP, Soundsquare, Taskovski Films, Cannes Docs – Marché du Film, Documentary Association of Europe, and European Film Market.
The U.S. documentary projects at the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum were announced in late September.
The European projects at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum (click for details) are as follows:
- 600 RAIDS Director: Kristina Leidenfrostova. Producers: Jürgen Karasek, Alice Karasek, Matej Sotník. Genre: Documentary. Country: Austria, Slovakia. Estimated date of premiere: October 2025
- ARTIFACTS OF WAR Director: Jorge Caballero. Producer: Anna Giralt Gris. Co-producer: Maria Bogliolo. Genre: Documentary. Countries: Colombia, Uruguay, Spain. Estimated date of premiere: 2025
- GODSTERMINAL Director: Georg Tiller. Producer: Maéva Ranaïvojaona. Genre: Fiction with Documentary Aspects. Countries: Austria, Sweden. Estimated date of premiere: February 2024
- IF PIGEONS TURNED GOLD Director: Pepa Lubojacki. Producers: Wanda Kaprálová, Klára Mamojková. Co-producer: Matej Sotník. Genre: Documentary. Countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia. Estimated date of premiere: October 2024
- LOST PARADISE Directors: Nicola von Leffern, Jakob Carl Sauer. Producers: Arash T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber, Peter Drössler. Co-producers: Jakob Carl Sauer, Nicola von Leffern. Genre: Documentary. Country: Austria. Estimated date of premiere: February 2024
- MARATHON Director: Peter Kerekes. Producers: Peter Kerekes, Tereza Tokárová. Genre: Documentary. Countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary. Estimated date of premiere: December 2024
- MINDSCAPES Director: Lina Zacher. Producer: Delphine Bishop. Genre: Documentary. Country: Germany. Estimated date of premiere: January 2025
- ONE INCH EASTWARD Directors: Brendan Culleton, Irina Maldea. Producer: Brendan Culleton. Co-producer: Ralitsa Golemanova.Genre: Documentary. Countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Ireland. Estimated date of premiere: May 2025
- RIDING WITH GHOSTS Directors: Piotr Malecki, Maciej Nabrdalik. Producers: Joanna Tatko, Piotr Malecki. Genre: Documentary. Country: Poland. Estimated date of premiere: May 2025
- SOCIETY Director: Thomas Østbye. Producer: Ellen Ugelstad. Genre: Documentary. Countries: Norway, Indonesia. Estimated date of premiere: August 2025
- STILL NIA. Director: Paula Onet. Producers: Ada Solomon, Diana Caravia. Genre: Documentary, Hybrid. Countries: Romania, France. Estimated date of premiere: June 2024
- THE FERRYMAN Director: Pavlo Dorohoi. Producer: Olha Symonenko. Genre: Documentary. Country: Ukraine. Estimated date of premiere: December 2025
- WOMEN WALK HOME Director: Stephanie Andreou. Producer: Adrián Gutiérrez. Genre: Documentary. Country: Cyprus. Estimated date of premiere: December 2024
- YOU NEVER JUST WALK AWAY Director: Rozálie Kohoutová. Producer: Martina Knoblochová. Genre: Fiction with Documentary Aspects. Country: Czech Republic. Estimated date of premiere: October 2026
Albert Serra creates Ji.hlava IDFF 2023 ‘spot’ trailer
This year’s pre-screening ‘spot’ trailer was made by the legendary Catalan filmmaker and iconoclast Albert SerraIt who was listed, note Ji.hlava IDFF, by Cahiers du cinéma among the fifteen most important young directors of the last decade.
“In one interview, I said that I decided to become a filmmaker so that I could make fun of the world. They put it in the headlines, and written in big letters, it seemed even more true to me. I think it’s the healthiest attitude an artist can take. All my work stems from this principle. I love Ji.hlava. I love the festival,” says Serra about this year’s Ji.hlava spot.
In the past, the Ji.hlava festival ‘spot’ has been created by French director Jean-Luc Godard, American director Godfrey Reggio, Icelandic film and theatre music composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, Czech director Jan Němec, and Slovak director Viera Čákanyová. Last year, the spot was made by internationally respected Roberto Minervini, an Italian director living in the United States, whose retrospective was featured at Ji.hlava in 2020.
The full Ji.hlava festival programme will be revealed on October 11.
