27th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
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It was close to work. The situation of Dita, who found herself prematurely and unnecessarily at the end of her life, and only because of her doctor. An intimate reflection not only on the relationship with the doctor who signed Dita's death warrant, but above all on past beauty and wishes. Footage from between the pillows with an awareness of one’s last few days in the context of the issue of oncology as a moneymaker.
... where it's green a lot
Ema Hůlková
Czech Republic / 2022 / 12 min.
section: FAMU Presents

The analogue film maps our perception of the environment and how we relate to it through different perspectives and the influence of various changes. Do we perceive the city – the space we have been familiar with – in the same way when we look at it in hindsight from a plane window or watch it in a shaky 8mm video?“If old landmarks got replaced by the new construction, will the concept of home disappear? The city contains a speed that I can no longer keep up with as an individual. I could only continue to wander and linger in it; try to capture the afterimages of our memory in my own way.”---Source:https://www.instagram.com/p/CeKxNOSPOyX/?hl=cs
(X, flies, Y, falls)
Alysée Yin Chen
Taiwan / 2022 / 8 min.
section: Fascinations
World Premiere

In this partly autobiographical documentary, the director traces the history of Generation 90, a group of Slovak filmmakers who studied in the 1990s. Kuboš conducts interviews with his contemporaries, including Jaroslav Vojtek, Peter Kerekes, and Zuzana Piussi, which he intersperses with their work, while at the same time placing both in a broader cultural and political history. A playfulness and respect for documentary film as such shines through the film.“Generation 90 is now the dominant one, I think it co-determines not only the face of Slovak cinema but also the face of documentary filmmaking. I can't imagine a bigger break, a jump into the water. Something like that doesn't happen often historically.” — Pavel Branko
+-90
Marek Kuboš
Slovakia / 2022 / 90 min.
section: Special Event
World Premiere

The documentary’s brief synopsis sounds like an unconventional fairy tale – an old hermit and a young girl who can communicate with birds hear the singing of an unknown bird one day and set off into the forest and an abandoned mine to find it. Although the story involves modern recording equipment and microphones, this doesn’t detract from its fairy-tale poeticism. With birdsong at its centre, the film encourages concentrated listening, while at the same time leading us to reflect on the fact that even a sound as ordinary as birdsong has something mysterious about it.
“Deep in the forests, the natural world offer itself up in equal proportions to the curiosity of scientists and the passions of poets.”
---Source: https://www.cinemadureel.org/en/films/7h15-merle-noir-2/
07:15 - Blackbird
Judith Auffray
France / 2022 / 30 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Opus Bonum
International Premiere

Tim den Besten and Nicolaas Veul spend 100 days interning at different departments in a mental health facility. Along trying to help those in need, the pair learn about what has led to some of the patients’ issues, the variety of ways available to help people going through mental health struggles, and whether the label of “madness” is helpful when everyone struggles.“Programs like this help a lot. I think it's good to show that it's normal and that we're not 'crazy'. This way we can remove prejudices." (Nienke van Oosten, a patient of a psychiatric clinic suffering from depression)---Source: https://kro-ncrv.nl/docuserie-100-dagen-in-je-hoofd-maakt-veel-los-ze-zijn-niet-allemaal-gek
100 Days in Your Head
Tim den Besten
Netherlands / 2021 / 50 min.
section: Reality TV
Czech Premiere

An original video diary documenting the director's efforts to have artificial insemination. Cuthand describes his desire to have children of his own and the difficult journey he must take to have them, a journey that is also closely tied to his membership in Canada's First Nations and thus to the question of preserving his indigenous culture.“Grieving people who never were is harder than it seems.” (TJ Cuthand)---Source: https://asinabkafestival.org/portraits-short-docs
13 Eggs
TJ Cuthand
Canada / 2022 / 14 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Short Joy
European Premiere

Marina is 26 years old and works as a prostitute to pay for her college education. She came to this work by accident and in the best possible way – in a feminist, safe environment and surrounded by people who care about her well-being. Together they face situations accompanied by exaggerated demands and prejudices.“Together they face the construction of a contemporary society full of demands and judgements against the slightest inconsistency.”---Source: https://archivodelcortometraje.es/en/cortometraje/30-70-60-120/
30’ 70 60’ 120
Marta Valverde
Spain / 2022 / 10 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Short Joy
World Premiere

For her thesis project, Eva Jiřička decided to plant flowers in the abandoned flowerbed on the sidewalk in front of the Academy of Fine Arts. She later invited the evaluation committee outside and asked them to board a rented bus. The bus then made a full three-hundred-sixty-degree turn on top of the flower bed, involving all of the participants in its destruction. The graduating artist thus confronted herself, the thesis committee, and the head of the studio, Michael Bielický, with the question of the relationship between the students and the institution.
360°
Eva Jiřička
Czech Republic / 2006 / 7 min.
section: Fascinations: Michael Bielický
The film already had its Czech Premiere

This poetic documentary shows the different faces of Armenia through several heroes and heroines, with their dreams and aspirations at the centre of the film's narrative. A 60-year-old hospital lift operator dreams of going into space, a man from the countryside seeks a bride, and two young queer girls want to live their lives despite homophobic sentiments. The directing duo treats their protagonists with respect and empathy, viewing their lives and dreams through the cultural background of Armenia. The whole country becomes the fifth dreamer.“Aren Malakyan and Vahagn Khachatryan have created an elegant and mysterious feature debut about a complex and contradictory country where archaic traditions coexist with a generation of young adults who dream of revolution.” (Muriel del Don)---Source:https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/424434/
5 Dreamers and a Horse
Aren Malakyan, Vahagn Khachatryan
Switzerland, Germany, Armenia / 2022 / 82 min.
section: Doc Alliance Selection
Czech Premiere

The film takes place on the eighth day of Russia's war campaign in Ukraine. Eight Ukrainians residing in the Czech Republic – a businesswoman, cleaning ladies, construction workers, and bus drivers – make their own diary-like observations of the events in their homeland. They continue to bury themselves in their work, unable to afford to withdraw themselves from their current lives. In their minds, however, they've transported themselves hundreds of kilometers away, helping their fellow countrymen and women by any means necessary. They provide accommodation for refugees, scout for bulletproof vests, and call their loved ones who’ve taken shelter from falling bombs. They have a hectic and emotionally overwhelming 24 hours ahead of them. But it’s not the first 24 hours and it won’t be the last.“Through the personal stories of real Ukrainian people, the film brings intimate insight into the many facets of war.” — Oksana Moiseniuk---Source: https://www.dokrevue.cz/clanky/osmy-den-valky
8th day of the war
Oksana Moiseniuk
Czech Republic / 2022 / 93 min.
section: Czech Joy, Ji.hlava Online
Czech Premiere

A film about plants and cleaning. The two protagonists are separated not only by distance and age, but also by how they relate to their work, cleaning offices and public toilets. They conquer these spaces and create their own worlds of objects and ideas.
A Circle, rather than a Line
Barbora Venclová
Czech Republic / 2022 / 9 min.
section: FAMU Presents

The 14-part cycle about foster children from all corners of the Czech Republic will show that being a foster parent is no easy task, but it´s definitely worth it. Each episode shows a family and the biggest surprise that met them on the way to a full nest. The project was created in cooperation with all fourteen Czech regions and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The quarter of directors – Linda Kallistová Jablonská, Ivana Pauerová Miloševič, Martin Páv and Adam Oľha – bring not only advice on how to examine any number of children, but so much more.
A Full Nest
Ivana Pauerová Miloševič, Linda Kallistová Jablonská
Czech Republic / 2022 / 52 min.
section: Reality TV
Czech Premiere