Interconnecting film professionals from Visegrad Countries

Visegrad Accelerator is aimed at interconnecting professionals from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Over the last eleven years, Visegrad Accelerator has become a respected platform, which initiates and expands various film activities in the Visegrad framework. Ji.hlava IDFF – the leading documentary film event in the Central and Eastern Europe – has become a birth place of creative initiatives and meetings of film professionals, critics, film festivals’ and film institutions’ representatives from Central European countries.

Ji.hlava IDFF has always emphasized the idea of Visegrad cooperation – creating space for promotion and support of Visegrad national cinemas. It has become one of the most important meeting points where Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Polish film professionals encounter, present their work and develop future collaborations among themselves as well as with other documentary film professionals from around the world.

Visegrad Accelerator is a platform for film professionals from Visegrad countries within the Ji.hlava Industry Programme and aims to discover and support new talents from Central Europe, introduce them to the international industry community and thus accelerate their creative growth. It creates a unique environment where V4 filmmakers can initiate and develop their documentary projects (Ji.hlava Academy & Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Co-production Market), present their producer’s vision and develop European co-productions (Emerging Producers), share experience (Festival Identity) and discuss their needs and know-how (V4 Panels, Visegrad Open Sessions, and Conference on Ethics in Documentary Film) – all in a relaxed, creative and non-competitive Ji.hlava environment.

Apart from the activities taking place at the Ji.hlava IDFF, we help the V4 filmmakers in introducing their most remarkable upcoming films to the international audiences (Docu Talents from the East at Sarajevo FF).

Since 2023, Ji.hlava IDFF has been according the Visegrad Award for the region’s best documentary film in the festival’s Opus Bonum competition.

VISEGRAD ACCELERATOR PROGRAM IN 2026

VISEGRAD ACCELERATOR: How to Reach Young Audiences
October 28, 2026
1 PM – 2 PM

The discussion will explore strategies for engaging young audiences at film festivals and cultural events more broadly. It will showcase successful initiatives from across the V4 countries and provide space for sharing practical experience.

Key questions will include: How do young audiences engage with culture today? What is the best way to reach and communicate with them? And what do they expect from film festivals and cultural events?

Panelists:
Ludmila Cviková / founder and director, CINEDU / Slovakia
Péter Horányi / program curator, Verzió / Hungary
Martina Pospíšilová / executive director, Ji.hlava IDFF / Czech Republic
Oskar Sapeta / KFF Industry Open Programme Coordinator, Krakow Film Festival / Poland

Moderator: Marta Balaga / journalist, Variety

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EMERGING PRODUCERS 2027 from V4 countries
Oct 26–30, 2026

This flagship project of Ji.hlava helps the up-and-coming documentary film producers from V4 in their growth and sparks their collaboration. This is the only programme of the kind focused on documentary film producers, and has direct results in the form of future joint film co-productions and personal growth of its participants.

Martina Netíková / Czech Republic
Péter Nadori / Hungary
Justyna Rutkowska / Poland
Michaela Kaliská / Slovakia

Public presentation of the Emerging Producers 2027
Oct 28, 2026
19:30 – 21:00

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Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market
Oct 28–30, 2026

New documentary projects in development, production and post-production from the V4 countries will be presented at the Forum and included in the Market. After the presentations, the presenters will be included in the Matchmaking service. The event directly helps the filmmakers to improve their projects, establish new co-productions and secure future presence at festivals across the world.

Projects from V4 countries in the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market:

Orban and Me / Hungary, Canada / dir. Réka Pigniczky
Being in You / Poland / dir. Michał Stankiewicz
Preemies / Poland / dir. Paweł Ziemilski
Words We Never Say / Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Spain / dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka
A Spectre is Haunting Europe / Slovakia, Czech Republic / dir. Robo Mihály
City of Dreams / Slovakia, Czech Republic / dir. Adam Šoltés, Matúš Chovanec
Iridescence / Slovakia, Belgium, Italy / dir. Dominika Kováčová, Kilhan Wittock
Ora et Labora / Luxembourg, Slovakia / dir. Dzhovani Gospodinov
Raw / Slovakia, Czech Republic, France / dir. Veronika Kováč
Mythos / Czech Republic, Moldova / dir. Ondřej Vavrečka
Playtopia / Czech Republic, Romania, Macedonia, United States / dir. Bara Jichova Tyson
The Cave of Bees and Other Stories / Czech Republic, India / dir. Kartikeya Saxena
We Have the Keys / Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, France / dir. Timo Novotny

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Conference of Ethics in Documentary Film
Oct 29, 2026

An innovative platform for discussion on ethical questions related to the production and reception of documentary films. Its purpose is to spark dialogue on crucial ethical issues in filmmaking and stimulate research by establishing a new space for discussion between academics and professionals in filmmaking and beyond (film and media studies, social sciences, history, postcolonial studies, archival studies, etc.).

Participants from V4 countries:

Veronika Kováč / researcher and director / Slovakia
Jan Motal / researcher / Czech Republic
Martina Čurdová / intimacy coordinator / Czech Republic
Hanga Tóth / director / Hungary
Ivan David / lawyer / Czech Republic
Martin Páv / director / Czech Republic
Markéta Ekrt Válková / director / Czech Republic

and others

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The partners of the Visegrad Accelerator 2026 are:

Wladyslaw Slesicki Film Foundation
MADOKE (Hungarian Documentary Association)
Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival
Slovak Film Institute
The Center for Modern Information Techniques and Visual Arts
Doc-Air

Visegrad Accelerator is supported by the International Visegrad Fund.