FAMU Turns 80! Long Live FAMU!

The alma mater of Czech audiovisual culture is celebrating a milestone birthday! Finále is joining the celebrations with a small tribute of its own: a selection of five short student films presented in the Special Presentation section. The curated selection was made in cooperation with FAMU and complements this year’s focus of the ZOOM section on Poland.

Many successful Polish filmmakers have graduated from FAMU, including director Agnieszka Holland (Franz, The Charlatan, Burning Bush). Finále offers a rare opportunity to see one of her early student films, Sin of God (1969). Abandoned and pregnant, Arina misses her lover and turns to God for help. He sends an infertile angel named Alfred to assist her, but it soon becomes clear that even divine intervention cannot solve all human problems.

Few things stir up as much emotion as the right recipe for potato salad. Along the Czech-Polish border, people even compete in a dedicated “potato salad” category. The contest for the best combination of root vegetables has the power to bring nations together. For once, coal mining and environmental disaster are not on the agenda.

For his documentary Everything’s Fine, Potatoes in Line (2022), director Piotr Jasiński received, among other accolades, a Special Mention at the Zlín Film Festival.

The film Stuck Together (2023) received two Czech Lion nominations and won two awards at FAMUfest, for Best Director and Best Screenplay. For three teenage friends, their small town feels too confining, and they dream of a life elsewhere. But only one of them has a chance to leave, putting their friendship in the balance. Anna Wowra’s drama captures the fragility of adolescence with sensitivity, but without sentimentality.

A portrait of the exceptional editor Jarosław Kamiński was made by Juliana Moska and Jan Vališ. Kamiński edited films including Ida (2013), Cold War (2018), Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020), Zátopek (2021), and Restore Point (2023), earning Czech Lion awards for several of them. The film Portrait of Jarosław Kamiński (2022) takes the editor back to his hometown and to the memories that shaped him.

Tomáš (Josef Trojan) and Aleš (Jakub Kalián) have a plan. They want to rent out an old military bunker as an Airbnb tiny house. But after spending a trial night in the unusual dwelling, Tomáš begins to feel a little out of place. Director Piotr Jasiński won the student short film competition at the 37th edition of Finále with Bunk.