Thursday, October 30, 2025, IF stage, Horácké theatre (Komenského 1359)
09:00 – 10:30 | Morning coffee with students on ethics in documentary film | Facilitated by Jan Motal
For pre-registered participants only.
A morning gathering just for students. Together we’ll create a safe space where you don’t have to hold back: from dilemmas of authorship and representation to the big question of whether audiences can still trust the images we make. Generative AI is changing the game – here you can share your experiences, emotions, and questions. No lines at the mic, no authority at the front – just an open circle where listening and sharing go hand in hand. (In Czech, no translation)
10:50 – 11:00 | Introductory word and conference launch | Tereza Swadoschová and Jan Motal
11:00 – 12:30 | Academic Perspective: Mapping the Ethics of AI in Documentary Film from Archives to Deepfakes | Moderated by Veronika Kováč
Who speaks with the voice of an algorithm? And who holds control over storytelling when the tool itself becomes a co-author? This academic panel maps the ethical dilemmas brought by the use of artificial intelligence in documentary film.
Katerina Cizek (MIT Co-Creation Studio) will introduce seven key threats AI poses to human creativity, from the erosion of ethics to the flattening of diversity.
Lucie Králová (FAMU) will present her new research supported by the Czech Technology Agency, focused on the ethics of using AI in audiovisual archives.
Andreea Lăcătuș (One World Romania, Bucharest) will open the discussion with the issue of vanishing voices and the dilemmas of using deepfake technologies to reconstruct missing audio.
Marta Materska-Samek (Jagiellonian University, Kraków) will bring insights from the Polish film industry, showing how filmmakers grapple with the question of whether AI is a threat or a collaborator.
Jan Motal (Masaryk University) will focus on ways filmmakers can reclaim creative control through open-source tools and collective practice.
13:30 – 14:30 | Keynote with Dominic Lees: Documentary film in the era of artificial intelligence: accountability, trust, authenticity | Moderated by Jan Motal
Language: English (with interpretation into Czech).
Established conventions of documentary practice are undergoing a profound transformation in the age of artificial intelligence. This keynote examines both the theoretical and practical challenges facing documentary from the filmmaker’s own perspective: how, within an environment shaped by generative technologies, the web of trust between maker, protagonist, and audience is changing. The talk explores how AI reshapes not only modes of production and storytelling but also the very perception of documentary veracity, and how the value of authenticity can be preserved within a new technological and cultural context.
The central question is how creators can restore trust in image, voice, and sound at a time when their evidentiary value has been fundamentally disrupted. The lecture also reflects on audiences’ shifting relationship to archival materials and on the destabilization of the “archival effect”, the viewer’s emotional response tied to the awareness of a record’s authentic origin - an effect that, in the age of AI, may be irreversibly transformed.
15:00 – 16:00 | Case study with Piotr Winiewicz – When artificial intelligence creates like Werner Herzog: About a Hero | Moderated by Jan Gogola ml.
The experimental essay film About a Hero (2024) grew out of a bold experiment in co-authorship between a human and artificial intelligence. The creators developed bespoke tools and drew on a wide range of technologies—from text generation and voice synthesis to image experiments—to test whether an algorithm can assume the role of narrator, emulating Werner Herzog’s voice. In this case study of About a Hero, Piotr Winiewicz presents the film’s making and the reflections that shaped his thinking about authorship, originality, and human control during production. He will also screen unused footage and additional materials that offer a deeper insight into the creative process.
16:30 – 17:45 | Industry perspective: Who controls documentary film in the era of AI? | Moderated by Marta Balaga
Panelists: Szilvia Ruszev (HUN), Tomáš Rampula (CZ), Veronika Macurová Křížová (CZ), Tomáš Elšík (CZ)
English and Czech (with simultaneous interpretation).
Who really decides what a film looks like today – the director, the producer, the lawyer, or the algorithm? This panel discussion opens up questions of power and control in documentary filmmaking, questions made even more complex by the rise of generative AI. How does the relationship between filmmaker and technology shift? What happens when algorithms shape dramaturgy, distribution, or even content itself? And ultimately, who bears responsibility – for the story, for ethics, for the audience’s trust? Bringing together diverse voices from practice and theory, the debate will map out where control over documentary truly lies today.
18:00 – 19:00 | Evening debriefing with students | Facilitated by Jan Motal
For pre-registered participants only.
The conference began with a morning circle of sharing – and in the evening, we return to it. Once again, a safe space is reserved just for students to pause and reflect together on what they have heard and seen throughout the day. It’s a moment when inspiration, questions, and unease can turn into conversation. No protocol, no hierarchy – just an open circle where listening and sharing bookend a day devoted to the ethics of documentary filmmaking in the age of AI.
