28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

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8 and 1 Year of the War
What can a refugee in a foreign country do to help his country win a war? And what must he go through in doing so? In this film, you will walk from Old Town Square in Prague to Wenceslas Square and you will see. Or will you hear?

8 and 1 Year of the War

Dariia Kovalchuk
Czech Republic / 2023 / 4 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
A Vague Dread Seems to Silence the Tongue
The Molly Maguires, a secret organization of Irish immigrants, were responsible for numerous murders in the mining region of Pennsylvania in the 1860s and 1870s. A one-sided historical narrative about the clash of different immigration groups is reconstructed in a film composed of contemporary written records and images of the sites exposed in the text. It views the tragic events as the result of a much more complicated context, involving issues of racism as well as growing social oppression and the slowly forming resistance to it. The long shadow of the painful events unfortunately still falls on the region today. “A Vague Dread Seems to Silence the Tongue attempts to conjure the spectre of violence that emerged out of the racial animus and labour struggles of the Civil War in the present day, setting the bloody events of the late 19th century against the contemporary landscape of a fading coal economy.” Source: Edward Kinh

A Vague Dread Seems to Silence the Tongue

Edward Kihn
United States / 2023 / 75 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Opus Bonum
International Premiere
Homeward
When the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Svetlana went to the Czech Republic with her two daughters. Now she intends to return to the war-torn country. Christmas is approaching and the family wants to spend it with their husband and father, who stayed in the Kyiv region. The camera impartially records the preparation for this risky journey. “I'm telling you that there's a war going on in Ukraine! And you are going there!”

Homeward

Olexi Chubun
Czech Republic / 2023 / 10 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Short Joy
World Premiere
In the Rearview
The view from the front seat to the back of the car makes up the majority of the shots in this minimalist documentary. The car oscillates back and forth between areas threatened by fighting in Ukraine and the Polish border. Its driver, the film's director, transports male and female war refugees to perceived safety. He drives through bombed-out towns, past destroyed military equipment and through checkpoint after checkpoint. The faces of his passengers sometimes show relaxation, sometimes exhaustion, but almost always a fear of things to come. Apart from the few necessities crammed into their suitcases, they carry with them traumas and fears for those they had to leave at home. “We never put people in a situation where they felt they needed to do something to get evacuated.” Source: Point of View Magazine

In the Rearview

Maciek Hamela
Ukraine, France, Poland / 2023 / 85 min.
section: Constellations, Ji.hlava Online
Czech Premiere
Is There Any Place For Me, Please?
Martina was doused with acid by her ex-boyfriend, causing third-degree burns to the upper half of her body and almost complete blindness. The documentary portrait follows her life story after this life-changing attack – coping with the loss of physical attractiveness, the fear of a world she cannot see, and her search for a new meaning in life. Martina's story bears all the hallmarks of a good biopic. It presents a strong central character going through difficult situations and finding happiness despite many pitfalls. But what sets it apart from mainstream productions is the directness with which Martina speaks to us and its potential to break through many taboos. “When we started working together, she was very traumatized by the attack. She did not associate with journalists and only agreed to do the documentary on the condition that if she wanted to, I would throw everything in the trash.” Source: Vlasta.cz

Is There Any Place For Me, Please?

Jarmila Štuková
Czech Republic / 2023 / 77 min.
section: Czech Joy, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
mines
The difference between a director and a pyrotechnician is that a director can afford to make a lot of mistakes. But the protagonists of the film, who are pyrotechnicians, cannot afford to make even one mistake - because any misstep could be their last.

mines

Dariia Kovalchuk
Ukraine, Czech Republic / 2023 / 5 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
Not that kind of guy
Perpetrators of sexual assault tend to be portrayed as monsters. Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid, on the other hand, approaches them with empathy and an attempt to understand what led them to commit the crime. In her documentary, we follow a trio of men aged 20 to 27 who committed rape after a party. They face charges, trial, sentencing and eventual release. In the process, Morten, Benjamin and Kasper talk openly about their identity crisis, social stigma and suicidal thoughts. Faced with the director, herself a victim of an assault, they also realise how devastating an attack on someone's physical integrity can be. “Identifying yourself with the term 'rapist‘ is really quite impossible.” (from Not That Kind of Guy)

Not that kind of guy

Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid
Norway / 2022 / 40 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Testimonies
International Premiere
Of Fences and Men
The iconography of garden communities, which also includes fences, is spread out before us in a pictorial-sound study of a Czech phenomenon. All those swings, cottages, rusting gates and weed-ridden concrete panel walkways are monuments to human attempts to tame nature within reasonable limits.

Of Fences and Men

Petr Michal
Czech Republic / 2023 / 12 min.
section: First Lights, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
Republic of Judges
Originally a six-part television series, it offers a detailed insight into the political transformations of the last few decades in Brazil. The transformation of the regime, the introduction of the constitution, the development of human rights, but also the ever-swelling judiciary, whose high-ranking protagonists are paradoxically above the law. Without the use of typical talking heads, the narrative turns to archival footage, television reports, feature films and mood-art video clips to create a documentary collage. The film narrates historical events from a contemporary critical perspective and exposes the mechanisms behind the lawlessness in South American states. “They do not overthrow the powerful with weapons or battles, but with pens, sentences, and in coordination with the Public Ministry.” Source: Ponte Jornalismo

Republic of Judges

Cédric Fanti, Eugenio Puppo, Hugo Leonardo
Brazil / 2023 / 100 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Testimonies
World Premiere
The Great Sadness
1953 was a year of great sadness for Czechoslovak citizens. Obligatory mourning intervened in their lives after the deaths of Stalin and Gottwald. Their grief was sincere because of the currency reform, which ruined their lifelong savings. In retrospect, 1953 was the height of social despair.

The Great Sadness

Pavel Štingl
Czech Republic / 2023 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries, Ji.hlava Online
The film already had its Czech Premiere
The Most Beautiful Corner in the World
A reporter for a fictional television station, originally from Ukraine, travels around Slovakia and asks people at memorable places questions about the nature of fascism and the soul of the Slovak nation. The documentary essay seeks to capture the shape of a society on the fringes of the political spectrum through the words spoken and the images of crowd scenes. “According to the Centre for Research of Ethnicity and Culture, people in Slovakia generally have an aversion to extremist movements. But at the same time, 75 percent of them identify with several of their ideas."Source: Aktuality.sk

The Most Beautiful Corner in the World

Robert Mihály
Slovakia / 2022 / 25 min.
section: Ji.hlava Online, Short Joy
World Premiere
The War Correspondents
War journalism is indeed a special discipline in the world of journalism. Even elite journalists bow to the brave few who venture into conflict zones and bring quality reporting from extreme environments. And apparently even the biggest cynic perceives that their work is worthy of respect and admiration. Documentary filmmaker Petr Jančárek talks to a number of reporters, cameramen and photographers about how they see their profession.

The War Correspondents

Petr Jančárek
Czech Republic / 2023 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries, Ji.hlava Online
The film already had its Czech Premiere
Where God Is Not
Under the direction of director Mehran Tamadon, an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Paris is transformed into a prison cell. He reconstructs the claustrophobic space according to the descriptions of three people who were imprisoned by the Iranian regime for their political views. Taghi Rahmani is a proscribed journalist who was harshly interrogated countless times. Mazyar Ebrahimi ran a film equipment rental business and was accused of espionage after a competitor slandered him. Homa Kahlori experienced torture at the hands of Iranian jailors in the 1980s. While each of them describes and re-enacts in detail the effect of the horrific experiences on the body and mind, we wonder along with the director whether there is a staging method that could ever capture similar hardships to their full extent. “In Where God Is Not, I tried to be delicate with my characters, because the trauma is huge, and I had to take care of them. I always tried to make sure that they could go on; I kept asking them how they felt. I was really with them, and I understood that re-creating these scenes could even help them a bit. But it wasn't my sole goal to help them; it was to make the film. I don't think that a filmmaker is an angel or that he has only good intentions.” — Mehran Tamadon Source: Cineuropa

Where God Is Not

Mehran Tamadon
Switzerland, France / 2023 / 112 min.
section: Constellations, Ji.hlava Online
Czech Premiere
Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Creative Europe Media
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms