Programme sections

Opus Bonum is a competition section for the best world documentary films presented in world, international or European premieres. → USD 10,000 for the winning film → EUR 3,000 for the best film from V4 countries** (in cooperation with the International Visegrad Fund) → award for the best Central and East European film* → awards for the best cinematography, editing, sound design, film essay, etc. * Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia (only for films not supported by the Russian state institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan ** Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia Film programme coming soon.

First Lights is a competition section for the best world documentary feature debuts presented in world, international or European premieres. Film programme coming soon.

Czech Joy is a competition section for the best Czech documentary, celebrating diversity of themes and cinematic expression. → 200.000 CZK for the winning film. Complete film programme coming soon.

Short Joy is a competition section for the most remarkable world documentary shorts. All films are made available online and free for two weeks prior to the festival. The public, anywhere in the world, is the jury of the section. You can watch and vote here. → Free distribution on DAFilms.com platform for one year & additional support for the winning film. Film programme coming soon.

Testimonies is a competition section dedicated to powerful documentary films which deal with important social, economic, environmental, and political phenomena. Complete film programme coming soon.

Fascinations is a prestigious competition section for best world experimental documentary films. Unexpected representations of the lived world through exploratory work with film language in an atlas of contemporary experimental cinema from every continent. Film programme coming soon.

Exprmntl.cz is a competition of the latest Czech experiments that relate to reality and never stop searching for a new audiovisual expression. Film programme coming soon.

The Constellations section presents films, that recently shone on world documentary skies. We introduce carefully selected remarkable titles from other film festivals. This selection features also the best films screened at Doc Alliance festivals. Ji.hlava IDFF is part of the alliance, which together consists of 7 key European documentary film festivals. Representatives from each festival nominate both a short and feature film from their program each year, from which European journalists select two Doc Alliance Award winners. Film programme coming soon.

Exceptional cinema events that offer a unique and profound perspective on the complexities of human experience. Complete film programme coming soon.

Can films change the world? Thirteen documentaries show how the power of film shapes people's lives and contributes to social transformation. These films helped change laws, sparked resistance to injustice, played a part in overturning wrongful convictions, gave a voice to those who had been overlooked, and brought to light testimonies that were later used in criminal investigations. The anniversary retrospective presents aesthetically distinctive works whose messages became catalysts for action.

Questions of who is speaking and from what position are as central to her films as the subjects they depict. This retrospective of Vietnamese American filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha presents five poetic film essays that explore how different cultures can be presented without claiming authority over them or imposing a single interpretation. Her inquiry into how the perspectives of those represented can be made visible is interwoven with reflections on power, her own gaze, and cinematic storytelling. Trinh T. Minh-ha examines memory, women’s experiences, and cultural transformations from Senegal to Vietnam and China.

The FAMU80 retrospective celebrates the school’s 80th anniversary and presents 36 films across five thematic sections, making it the largest festival retrospective in FAMU’s history, covering the period 1946–1970. The selection explores the school itself, life around us, work and art, as well as films by international students, with a dedicated section devoted to the films of Helena Třeštíková, née Böhmová. The selection is the result of a two-year research project by prof. Jiří Voráč, doc. Tereza Czesany Dvořáková, and prof. Jan Bernard, who focused on documentary filmmaking among 345 films that had previously been unidentified or inaccessible. FAMU80 also includes a showcase of films from the CAS Department, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and whose films have never before been screened at the festival.