Ji.hlava / JB Films Support
About Ji.hlava / JB Films Support
Its aim is to support the effective distribution of films in both national and international context. We are aware that distributing auteur films is much more difficult after the pandemic, and we want to make it easier for exceptional projects to reach their audiences. We are convinced that these exceptional films can help us understand better the changes and the mounting crises of the world we live in.
Who is the 2026 call intended for?
Feature documentary and hybrid films whose main country of production is in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (see list of countries below). Support will primarily be provided to films in production or post-production, with an expected world premiere within two years from submitting the application.
Eligible countries:
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus (only for projects not supported by the Belarusian state institutions), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia (only for projects not supported by the Russian state institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Amount of support:
The total amount in this call is 110,000 EUR and will be distributed to around 3–4 documentary and hybrid films in production or post-production selected by an international jury. One project can receive up to 40,000 EUR.
Form of support:
The financial support is a co-production input to the film project, which will provide to Ji.hlava / JB Films a revenue share corresponding to the total cost (or as agreed between the main producer of the film and Ji.hlava / JB Films).
The profit share assigned to Ji.hlava / JB Films will be subsequently distributed in full to the newly selected film projects in subsequent calls. The aim is to create a tool that will enable repeated support for new films in the region.
Conditions
Applicants must meet the following conditions:
- The submitted film must be an international co-production, (at least one co-producing country).
- The applicant must have at least 50% financing of the total budget secured.
- The applicant agrees that – if selected for support – the Czech premiere of the film will take place at the Ji.hlava IDFF
The application must be filled in online and contain the following attachments:
1/ Treatment and synopsis of the film project
2/ Director's filmography
3/ Producer's filmography
4/ The project’s creative approach and artistic value
5/ Visual material (rough-cut or selected scenes)
6/ Financial strategy and financial plan
7/ Intended distribution and marketing strategy
8/ Detailed strategy on how to generate revenue from sales and distribution, including proposed share for the Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production partner
Deadline for applications:
August 31, 2026
Documents for download:
1) Template of the co-production contract
2) Logo of Ji.hlava / JB Films png | pdf
Recipients of Ji.hlava / JB Films Support 2025
(The allocated support in 2025 call was 54,000 EUR)
PLAYTOPIA
Countries: Czech Republic, Romania
Film length: 80 min
Director: Bára Jíchová Tyson
Producers: Alice Tabery, Kristina Husová
Co-producers: Radu Stancu, Cristina Hanes
Genre: hybrid documentary
Estimated date of premiere: 2026
Logline: Frank, surprising, alarming: children show us what they think of our world. Playtopia combines the real and the imagined in a playful documentary film with whimsical and magical elements.
Synopsis: Playtopia is a hybrid documentary where a filmmaker explores the minds of eight children through a magical object called the Playtopia Machine. Together, they imagine The Good Life and The Bad Life, reflecting children's views on power, love, money, hierarchy, and the future. The film asks: Are we preparing kids for a world worth inheriting?
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: EUR 18,000
WORLD OF WALLS
Countryies: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Belgium, France, South Africa
Film length: 80 min
Director: Lucia Kašová
Producer: Matej Sotník (guča films)
Co-producers: CLAW Films, Harald House BV, FACTSTORY, ARTE GEIE, Czech Television, The Audio Room
Genre: hybrid documentary
Estimated date of premiere: 2026
Logline: Set in South Africa where the future is already reality, the coming-of-age documentary World of Walls follows the everyday lives of two girls on opposite sides of a wall.
Synopsis: To evoke and imagine the near future, World of Walls is set in an environment of extreme social divisions and an escalating climate crisis. The story takes place in an unspecified country that is being destroyed by on-going environmental disasters, located in today’s South Africa. The rich are living inside strictly protected luxury estates with secure infrastructure, while the rest of the world survives on scarce resources. People knew these catastrophes were coming, but ignored the fact. By following the contrasting lives of Megan and Laureen—teenagers growing up separated by a wall—the film offers a window into this fractured and dystopian world.
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: EUR 18,000
VALLEY OF THE NIGHT
Countries: Czech Republic, USA
Film length: 80 min
Director: Lynne Siefert
Producers: Matej Sotník (Somatic Films), Lynne Siefert (Mousehaus)
Genre: hybrid documentary
Estimated date of premiere: 2027
Logline: In a near-future world where extreme heat forces society to become nocturnal.
Synopsis: Valley of the Night is a science fiction documentary that envisions a near future world in Phoenix, Arizona, the hottest city in the United States, where nighttime becomes a place of natural refuge as people adapt to survive the extreme temperatures.
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: EUR 18,000
Recipients of Ji.hlava / JB Films Support 2024
(The allocated support in 2024 call was 110,000 EUR)
MY DEAR THEO
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: 40,000 EUR
Countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine
Director: Alisia Kovalenko
Producer: Kasia Kuczyńska, Tomasz Morawski
Co-producers: Darya Bassel, Oleksandra Kravchenko
Genre: Documentary
World premiere: CPH:DOX 2025
Awards: Human Rights Dox Award at DokuFest 2025
Synopsis:
MY DEAR THEO is a deeply personal documentary by Alisa Kovalenko, who combines her perspectives as a mother, soldier, and filmmaker. The film spans from early spring to summer 2022, capturing the routine, waiting, and sudden violence of life in the trenches. Through Alisa's camera, viewers experience the stark reality of the Ukrainian frontline, from the quiet moments of reflection to the chaos of missile strikes. Her letters to her son Theo provide an emotional core, exploring themes of love, legacy, and the personal cost of war. By focusing on her relationships with comrades and the inner turmoil of conflict, MY DEAR THEO offers a unique, intimate view of war that transcends traditional documentary storytelling.
POWER, ELAINE
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: 40,000 EUR
Country: Serbia
Director and Producer: Mila Turajlić
Genre: Documentary
Estimated date of premiere: 2025
Synopsis:
Elaine Mokhtefi (née Klein), a Jewish American from New York, has had an exhilarating life, colored by the great events of decolonisation that marked the 1960s and 70s. At the age of 90, she decides to write her memoirs, plunging into the past and combing through research documents. Sitting in the kitchen of her cozy Upper West Side apartment, surrounded by photos and souvenirs of decades of activism, dwarfed by the giant iMac screen in front of her, she could hardly have imagined that the publication of her book "Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers" in 2018 would inaugurate an entirely new chapter in her life.
WISHING ON A STAR
Ji.hlava / JB Films co-production support: 30,000 EUR
Countries: Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia
Director: Peter Kerekes
Producers: Erica Barbiani, Lucia Candelpergher, Peter Kerekes, Anna Mach Rumanová
Co-producers: Ralph Wieser, Vít Schmarc, Vanja Jambrović, Tibor Keser, Stefano Centini
Genre: Documentary
World premiere: Venice FF 2024
Synopsis:
An astral comedy that shows how to resurrect one’s love for a husband, find a woman to start a family or reconcile with your father. Just go to Alaska, Greenland or Lebanon, advises Italian astrologer Luciana, who works as a psychotherapist and personal coach in her office. This touchingly real guide to emotional turmoil, human longing and hope is based on the techniques of fiction film. A layered group portrait with a polished character typology portrays a world driven by chance, disguised as mirage, self-delusion or miracle.
Kontakt Ji.hlava Industry
JARMILA OUTRATOVÁ
Head of Industry Office
jarmila@ji-hlava.cz
