Competition line-up revealed!

From 26 September 26 to 1 October, Pilsen will once again become the beating heart of Czech cinema, hosting the 38th edition of our Festival. As always, audiences can look forward to a packed list of the most exciting Czech films of the past season, alongside a number of exclusive premieres and previews.

This year, the Festival will open with the much-anticipated Franz, directed by three-time Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland. The film tells a story inspired by the life, work, and imagination of Prague’s legendary writer, Franz Kafka.

In the competition for the Golden Kingfisher award, 9 feature films, 9 documentaries, 13 television and internet projects, and 12 student short films will compete for awards.

The programme also features a large selection of non-competition sections: ZOOM – a spotlight on films from the Benelux countries; Czech Traces – focusing on international films with Czech creative involvement; Women and Film – highlighting prominent female voices in Czech cinema. Naturally, audiences can also look forward to a lively accompanying programme and meetings with many filmmakers and actors.

The day-by-day programme will be published on the Festival’s website in early September. Ticket pre-sales open on Thursday, 4 September at 9:00 a.m., and tickets can be purchased online only ahead of the Festival.

Festival Sections

Competition:

Golden Kingfisher – Feature Live Action or Animated Films competition

Golden Kingfisher – Documentary Films competition

Golden Kingfisher – TV and Internet Production competition

Golden Kingfisher – Student Short Film competition

Non-competition: First Catch; In the Nets; Czech Traces; Women and Film; German Cinema; ZOOM; Special Feature

List of competition films

Feature Live Action or Animated Films competition

Caravan (Zuzana Kirchnerová)

Summer School, 2001 (Dužan Duong)

The Other Side of Summer (Vojtěch Strakatý)

Promise, I’ll Be Fine (Katarína Gramatová)

Nobody Likes Me (Petr Kazda, Tomáš Weinreb)

Father (Tereza Nvotová)

Tales from the Magic Garden (David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec)

Broken Voices (Ondřej Provazník)

Secret Delivery (Ján Sebechlebský)

Documentary Film competition

The Impossibility (Tomáš Hlaváček)

Wishing on a Star (Peter Kerekes)

Queens of Joy (Olga Gibelinda)

Forest (Lidia Duda)

Volver a Volver (Valerio Mendoza Guillén, Jorge Sánchez Calderón)

Ms. President (Marek Šulík)

Better to Go Mad in the Wild (Miro Remo)

World Between Us (Marie Dvořáková)

War Correspondent (Benjamin Tuček, David Čálek)

TV and Internet Production competition

Bora, Ep. 1 Death Won’t Escape You (Marek Najbrt, Zuzana Marianková)

Daughter of the Nation, Ep. 3 Great Love (Matěj Chlupáček, Cristina Groşan)

The Kiddo, Ep. 2 (Rozálie Kohoutová, Radim Špaček)

The King of Šumava 2, Ep. 5 The Trap (Damián Vondrášek)

The Limits, Ep. 1 Asbestos (Petr Zelenka)

Because of Bear, Ep. 1 Children of the Mountains (Miro Remo)

Moloch Files, Ep. 1 (Lukáš Hanulák)

The Powder Room II, Ep. 5 How Often Do You Want It? (Erika Hníková)

The Substitutes, Ep. 1 (Alice Nellis, Jiří Havelka)

Troublemaking Women, Ep. 1 Is Education for Women Worth it? (Bibiana Beňová)

Smetana (Marek Najbrt)

The Well, Ep. 1 (Tereza Kopáčová)

No Big Deal, Ep. 1 The Visit (Jan Vejnar)

Student Short Film competition

Butterfly Girl, That’s Your Name Before You Know (Ema Hůlková, FAMU)

Stone of Destiny (Julie Černá, UMPRUM)

Better Man (Eliška Jirásková, FAMU)

summer09 (Nikolas Sand, Michael Academy)

From Play to Play (Mikoláš Arsenjev, FAMU)

Overture (Jakub Hronský, UMPRUM)

Dog and Wolf (Terézia Halamová, FAMU)

POLIO (Klára Kubenková, FAMU)

First Patrol (Vojtěch Konečný, FAMU)

Gone (Piotr Jasiński, FAMU)

A Stray (Mikoláš Fišer, FAMU)

Savagery (Karolína Hlavičková, FMK UTB Zlín)