13/09/2023 - The 27th edition of the largest Czech documentary film festival will unspool from 24-29 October, highlighting female filmmakers of the calibre of Marguerite Duras, Naomi Kawase and Claire Simon

The 27th edition of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (24-29 October) will spotlight women, providing a significant platform for female filmmakers. The programme will delve into themes such as female physicality, sexuality, ageing and breaking gender norms. Notable films from the upcoming edition include Claire Simon's Our Body [+see also:
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interview: Anna Hints
film profile], addressing societal expectations and personal traumas; Vika! by Agnieszka Zwiefka, focusing on the challenges of ageing; and Steffi Niederzoll's Seven Winters in Tehran [+see also:
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film profile], which details the harrowing story of Reyhaneh Jabbari, and which has also garnered attention and reaped awards from the Berlinale and CPH:DOX.

After an 18-year hiatus, renowned Japanese director Naomi Kawase returns to the Ji.hlava IDFF. Celebrated for her poetic touch and deep empathy, especially towards female protagonists, Kawase's contributions to cinema have been widely recognised, winning accolades such as the Contribution to Cinema Award at Ji.hlava in 2005 as well as awards from the Cannes Film Festival. The Ji.hlava IDFF will showcase both her documentaries and fiction features, including the cinematic treatment of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and her feature Still the Water [+see also:
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This year, the festival will focus on French cinema, with a particular emphasis on the works of Marguerite Duras – a pivotal 20th-century writer, screenwriter and filmmaker. Programmer David Čeněk heralds her as a more radical and original director than even Jean-Luc Godard. Duras's films, often interwoven with themes of female emancipation and personal experiences, challenge traditional cinematic conventions, as exemplified in her work for the feminist magazine Dim Dam Dom. The festival will not only present some of Duras's lesser-known films, but will also introduce I Want to Talk About Duras [+see also:
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interview: Claire Simon
film profile] by Claire Simon, which delves into Duras's relationship with her much younger partner, Yann Andréa.

As usual, the festival will introduce the latest batch of local productions. Among the most notable films is Marta Kovářová's The World According to My Dad, chronicling her father's battle for climate justice; Štěpán Pech's You Will Never See It All [+see also:
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interview: Štěpán Pech
film profile], centred on Czech artist Ján Mančuška; and Haruna Honcoop's Olympic Halftime (see the news), which examines the fate of Olympic infrastructures in Beijing, Tokyo and Paris, following her 2017 exploration of socialist-era structures in Built to Last.

The Translucent Being section of Ji.hlava will honour the work of Czech documentarian Pavel Koutecký (1956-2006) via his first-ever retrospective. Renowned for his astute observations and incisive irony, Koutecký's films often chronicled the Czech Republic's transition post-November 1989. Festival director Marek Hovorka recalls Koutecký's close relationship with the gathering and lauds him as a cinematic chronicler capturing the Czech shift from socialism to capitalism. Among the films being showcased is his magnum opus, Citizen Havel [+see also:
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The festival’s Inspiration Forum is set to offer an extensive programme encompassing debates, lectures, interviews and art, centred on five pivotal topics: food, water, space, artificial intelligence (AI) and communities. Tereza Swadoschová, the forum's head, emphasises the platform's commitment to not only reflecting on these issues, but also exploring solutions. Key highlights include discussions on the potential for conflict over resources in space, with insights from anthropologist Lucie Ráčková on human stress during long-term space missions; debates on water resources and the environmental impact of deep-sea mining, led by marine biologist Patricia Esquete; insights into community resource redistribution from sociologist Jan Sowa; and Paris Marx's exploration of the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.