Although the 29th Ji.hlava IDFF only starts in two weeks, the first documentaries are already available to watch. This year's online competition section, Short Joy, features 23 short documentaries from around the world, which are available from October 9 on the DAFilms.com platform, where viewers can vote for the best film until October 23. The winning film will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Ji.hlava IDFF on Friday, October 24, where it will receive the DAFilms Audience Award. This year's films combine personal perspective, visual experimentation, and sensitivity to current issues, ranging from cultural memory to social and environmental issues to reflections on human identity.
"We can't imagine the DAFilms fall program without Short Joy, and neither can our viewers from around the world. We prepare the showcase two weeks before the festival itself so that viewers can decide on the best of the short films, which explore the possibilities and power of documentary in a very small space," says DAFilms curator Magda Španihelová.
Among the selected titles are, for example, the Slovak film Tereza Smetanová's seablindness, a meditative look at the colossal nature of maritime transport, and the Czech film Victoria Aldabagh's Behind the Blue, a portrait of a freediver exploring the limits of the human body. An intimate look at the lives of people affected by drought is offered by the Chadian film The Guardian of the Well by directors Bentley Brown and Tahir Ben Mahamat Zene, while a meditation on memory and war losses is provided by Geometry of Return by Canadian-Ukrainian director Nataliya Bek-Gergard.
