Ji.hlava 2023: First titles, guests and retrospectives

WOMEN IN FOCUS AT JI.HLAVA

Topics such as female physicality and sexuality, aging, friendship, childbirth, coming to terms with motherhood, sexual violence, and the effort to break free from gender roles run throughout this year’s Ji.hlava program. The Constellations section, which presents a selection of exceptional films from other film festivals, will feature for example Our Body by Claire Simon, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Estonian director Anna Hints, Vika! by the acclaimed Polish director and investigative journalist Agnieszka Zwiefka, and Seven Winters in Tehran by German director Steffi Niederzoll.

Photo still: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

NAOMI KAWASE BACK AT JI.HLAVA

After eighteen years, the esteemed Japanese director Naomi Kawase returns to Ji.hlava where she received the Contribution to Cinema Award in 2005. We will present both her documentary and feature work, including her cinematic treatment of the Olympic Games – Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Another film, this time a feature titled Still the Water, addresses adolescence and death – and according to Kawase, ranks among her top three films. The screenings will be topped by a masterclass at which Kawase will share with audiences her creative method.

CZECH JOY REVEALS FIRST HIGHLIGHTS

The festival program traditionally offers a large showcase of current Czech documentaries. Among them will be The World According to My Dad directed by Marta Kovářová, which captures her father’s fight for climate justice in the form of a live diary. The film You Will Never See It All directed by Štěpán Pech will focus on the Czech artist with Slovak roots, Ján Mančuška. In the film Olympic Halftime Czech-Japanese documentary filmmaker Haruna Honcoop delves into the fate of Olympic constructions. While her previous film Built to Last (2017) focused on structures built during socialism across Eastern Europe, her current film maps Olympic construction in Beijing, Tokyo, and Paris.

Photo still: Olympic Halftime

A SPECIAL FOCUS ON AMERICAN VR

This year’s program will also offer a big showcase of virtual reality. Ji.hlava first introduced a VR section nine years ago, being the first among Czech festivals and fourth in the world. This year, the section will focus on U.S. production. The VR competition section will feature also exceptional VR works coming also from Europe, Asia and South America. Among them Affiorare/Surfacing by Rossella Schillaci in which participants will experience how it feels for children growing up with their mothers in prison. The phenomenon of virtual reality will also be addressed during the Visegrad Accelerator, which will feature a panel discussion of leading VR experts in Central Europe. 

Photo still: Surfacing

GET YOUR EARLY BIRD INDUSTRY ACCREDITATION

With the 27th Ji.hlava IDFF just two months away (October 24–29), we invite film professionals to get their industry accreditations. An early bird price of 1,500 CZK (approx. €60) is available until September 30, and discounts are granted to film school students. The Ji.hlava industry programme will feature a rich variety of events including masterclasses, presentations, discussions, Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Co-production Market, Matchmaking Accelerator, and more.

REGISTRATIONS TO FESTIVAL IDENTITY ARE OPEN

Festival representatives can still register to the 14th edition of Festival Identity – a networking platform for film festivals at the Ji.hlava IDFF. The Festival Identity workshop will take place on October 25 and the 300 EUR participation fee includes industry accreditation plus three nights of accommodation covered by the festival. We would also like to encourage festival organisers to submit their recent artworks to the traditional Best Festival Poster competition. 

INSPIRATION FORUM: WATER, UNIVERSE, COMMUNITY AND AI

The Inspiration Forum – Ji.hlava’s discussion platform – will this year offer a rich programme of debates, lectures, interviews, art, and a new participatory programme. Over the course of five days, five contemporary discussions will revolve around food, water, space, artificial intelligence, and communities. The guests include Czech anthropologist Lucie Ráčková, Portuguese marine biologist Patricia Esquete, Polish sociologist Jan Sowa, and the critic of the technology industry Paris Marx who will explore the potential challenges and opportunities brought by AI.

PROMOTIONAL POSSIBILITIES AT THE 27TH JI.HLAVA IDFF

The 27th Ji.hlava IDFF will once again offer a wide range of promotional possibilities. We invite you to use this opportunity to present your spot at Ji.hlava, host a drink or other event during the festival, or distribute your promotional materials to festival visitors. Reach out to thousands documentary film fans and around 1,300 film professionals attending one of the key European documentary events. Contact us before September 30 and we will prepare a tailor-made offer for you.

JOHN GIANVITO ON DAFILMS.COM

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, John Gianvito has, since 2001, carved out his own space on the outskirts of the American documentary industry. There he has consistently produced challenging and uncompromisingly radical political non-fiction films for more than twenty years. The selection at DAFilms.com now features an unconventional documentary “biopic” of Helen Keller, a political anthology film about the war in Afghanistan, two new short works about the war in Ukraine and about COVID-19, as well as his adaptation of Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”, Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind, considered one of the essential American political films of the past two decades.