Ji.hlava FestivalJi.hlava Industry
24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
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Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: Europe

The event is dedicated to the new generation of European producers, new formats, innovative trends, and visions for the future. The programme is open to diverse audiovisual formats.

JNV Forum Selected Projects 2024 (PDF)

For Ji.hlava New Visions Forum – U.S. Docs, go here.
For Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: East & Southeast Asia, go here.

Ji.hlava New Visions Forum: Europe

At the core of the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum is the pitching of fourteen carefully selected European documentary projects – both in the development stage and in production / post-production stages. The event took place on October 30–31 during the Ji.hlava IDFF and was attended by film professionals and other stakeholders in the film industry accredited at the festival. The presentations took place in person.

The call is traditionally open not only to documentary films but also diverse audiovisual formats such as fiction with documentary aspects, hybrid, experimental, short films, docu and web series, cinema expanded projects, games with documentary aspects and VR / AR / Live documentaries.

In our selection process, we focus on the artistic vision of the project, its originality and author-driven character, visual style and fresh spirit, international potential in terms of financing and development of collaboration, openness for sharing the project with other partners, as well as diverse modes of distribution.

The submission is free of charge. In one call you apply for both Ji.hlava New Visions Forum and also Ji.hlava New Visions Market. The selected projects will receive two complimentary Industry Accreditations.

Format

Selected projects for Ji.hlava New Visions Forum are presented by the director-producer pair along with a preview of the upcoming film on the main stage of the Industry HUB and also in the online market database.

The Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024 was accompanied with the Ji.hlava New Visions Market. The projects for the market were presented in the online database accessible to all industry-accredited guests.

All participants of the JNV Market have also an opportunity to take part in the Matchmaking Accelerator during the industry days of Ji.hlava IDFF. Matchmaking Accelerator features several hundred accredited film professionals – festival representatives, curators, distributors, sales agents, commissioning editors and journalists from across the world.

Jury

Awards

Current Time TV award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • The project will receive 2,000 USD as a cash award granted in cooperation with Current Time TV.
  • Eligible for European projects

Ji.hlava New Visions Award 2024 for the most promising European project in cooperation with UPP and Soundsquare

  • The visual effects and post-production house UPP will provide an in-kind grant for visual post-production modelled to the needs of the award-winning film in the estimated value of 15,000 EUR (1 day online, 4 days grading, DCP Cinema Master, TV Master).
  • The sound studio and post-production company Soundsquare will offer sound mixing and a final sound master in the estimated value of 5,000 EUR.
  • Eligible for European projects

#Docs Connect Taskovski training award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • Mentorship and consultancy on the festival, marketing and distribution strategy for the winning project
  • Eligible for both European and U.S. projects

Cannes Docs - Marché du Film Award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • Two complimentary Marché du Film badges & selection as a Cannes Docs 2025 'Spotlighted Project'
  • Eligible for European, Asian and U.S. projects

EURODOC Award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • Full tuition fee for one of EURODOC training sessions + One-year-long EURODOC Membership (in the value of 1,900 EUR)

  • Eligible for projects whose main producer is based in EU Member States*

(*and non-EU Participating Countries in the Creative Europe Programme, ie. EFTA countries which are part of the EEA, acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, European Neighbourhood Policy countries

The award goes to the main producer of the project, and the training can be joined in 2025 or in 2026, with the same project or with another creative documentary project. The award also entails full Eurodoc membership for 12 months over the year of the attended training.

DAE Award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • Free memberships for two members of the project team for one year and a tailor-made consultancy session with DAE senior consultants.
  • Eligible for European, Asian and U.S. projects

Sheffield DocFest Networking Award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2024

  • Two Industry Passes for Sheffield DocFest 2025
  • Eligible for European, Asian and U.S. projects

Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market are part of Doc Alliance Network of Markets supported by

   

Ji.hlava New Visions Forum and Market
is held as part of the Visegrad Accelerator.

Partners of Ji.hlava New Visions Awards

       
       

SELECTED PROJECTS 2024

DEVELOPMENT

 

368 ASL

 

FANTASMA

     
 

GREEN IS THE FIRE’S TINT

 

HOMEFIRE

     
 

REBELLION OF MEMORY

 

SEMICOLON

     
 

THE SPACES WE INHABIT

 

SUGARLAND

PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION

 

BOOKS ARE OUR WEAPONS

 

DIVIA

     
 

HOMEMADE MULBERRY VODKA

 

THE CASTLE

     
 

THE FLIGHT OF THE STORK

 

THE VIOLENT SKIN

     
   

WASTELAND CHRONICLES

 

 

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DEVELOPMENT

368 ASL
Director: Michael Jiřinec
Producer: Matěj Paclík
Genre: Fiction with Documentary Aspects
Country: Czech Republic
Runtime: 90’
Estimated date of premiere: January 2026

Synopsis: Young parents live in a caravan in a small village on the border of Czechia and Germany. To lift the family out of poverty, the father gets involved with arms smugglers. The bleak, hypnotic microcosm of the landscape in which the action takes place is engulfed in a stupendous darkness in which lost souls move without a way out. The father decides to smuggle the weapons, despite the risk, which he eventually realizes. He's leaving and not coming back. The mother will be left alone with two children.

Production Company: Breathless Films s.r.o.

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FANTASMA
Director: Tomáš Klein
Producer: Tomáš Michálek / Martina Netíková
Genre: Experimental
Country: Czech Republic / Slovakia
Runtime: 65 ’
Estimated date of premiere: December 2025

Synopsis: Max takes us into a world where truth feels like the end of everything. During his Chamber REST (dark therapy), he uncovers that his deepest secrets are just fragments of a larger story, and the biggest deception is the film itself. Yet, even the end of the world doesn't taste as bitter as Max had feared.

Production Company: Cinémotif Films

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GREEN IS THE FIRE’S TINT
Directors: Cristina Hanes / Arya Rothe / Isabella Rinaldi
Producer: Cristina Hanes
Genre: Documentary
Country: Romania / India / Italy
Runtime: 90’
Estimated date of premiere: December 2025

Synopsis: Somi, an indigenous woman, fought for the rights of India's indigenous communities as a Naxalite Maoist rebel. After leaving the movement, she and her family settled on land with other former Naxalites. One day, they received an eviction notice: the land had gained value due to a nearby iron mine, and a presumed owner is seeking real estate investment. In addition to land speculation, mining activities are devastating the jungle surrounding the settlement. GREEN IS THE FIRE'S TINT follows Somi as she leads the fight against eviction, believing the land belongs to the indigenous community.

Production Company: NoCut Film Collective

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HOMEFIRE
Director: Neus Pagès
Producer: Laura Alvarez
Genre: Documentary
Country: Spain
Runtime: 80’
Estimated date of premiere: March 2027

Synopsis: Hidden in the Catalan Pyrenees, the village of Airamunt was abandoned eighty years ago when a dam submerged its lands. Now, Audit (53), Furi (41), their children Mel (9) and Raïu (2), and 5,000 bees live off-grid, pursuing their eco-tourism dream. Sixteen years ago, they left the city to rebuild Airamunt and expand their apiary. Bees symbolize teamwork and resilience—values they hope to pass on to their children. But competition with an industrial beekeeper threatens their organic bees, pushing Mel to finally connect with her family’s project.

Production Company: Nanouk films

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REBELLION OF MEMORY
Director: Joël Jent
Producer: Sophia Rubischung / Charlotte Uzu / Claudia Chávez Lévano
Genre: Documentary
Country: Switzerland / France / Peru
Runtime: 100’
Estimated date of premiere: February 2026

Synopsis: Former child soldier Carlitos wants to reunite his wartime parents, Tania and Shogún, who were enemies during the Peruvian civil war. At 11, Carlitos joined the Guerilla and met Tania, who became his surrogate mother. Later, Shogún, a lieutenant, spared his life and sent him to school, becoming his father. Carlitos fought for both sides—against the Guerillas and his mother. Now, 40 years later, Carlitos brings them together at a former battleground. Over several days, they confront their past and, slowly, find understanding.

Production Company: Aaron Film / Les Films d'Ici / Amazona Producciones

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SEMICOLON
Directors: Ella Ramon Ferrer / Gala Diaz
Producer: Anna Boneta
Genre: Documentary
Country: Spain
Runtime: 90’
Estimated date of premiere: November 2025

Synopsis: Since Èlia experienced the suicide of a close person, she has felt alone with immensely deep pain. When discovering through her psychologist how healing writing can be, she turns a notebook into a space of care for others who need it. Ari and Salva embark on a project that leads them to face the worst moment of their lives using correspondence with a stranger as therapy. They know nothing about each other; they only have a notebook with an address where they send it. The only thing they know is what they have in common: they have both experienced the suicide of a close family member.

Production Company: Benecé Produccions S.L.

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THE SPACES WE INHABIT
Director: Bruno Cerpa Moreno
Producer: Bruno Cerpa Moreno
Genre: Documentary
Country: italy / Spain / Peru
Runtime: 65’
Estimated date of premiere: 2026

Synopsis: We will visit, in different seasons of the year and times of the day, some of the houses I have lived in, without geographical details. We will first explore the streets, then we will slowly get closer to the facades, until we will get to the interior of the houses. No one will knock on the door, no one will open it, we will simply suddenly be inside, guided by my voice-over that will narrate memories that connect me emotionally to time when I lived there. We will not see the people who live there now, but we will hear them talking about their relationship with those spaces.

Production Company: Bruno Cerpa Moreno

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SUGARLAND
Director: Julia Groszek
Producer: Alicja Gancarz
Genre: Documentary
Country: Poland
Runtime: 90’
Estimated date of premiere: October 2026

Synopsis: Coca-Cola is extremely important to the people of Chiapas - it is used ritually during prayers in church, it determines a person's status, and if a local politician wants to win the people's vote, he or she has to serve 180 cases of Coke at a rally. What's more, local healers (curanderos) believe in the healing power of Coca-Cola. There is an epidemic of diabetes and obesity in Chiapas, while at the same time the Coca-Cola plants are depleting the groundwater, leaving residents without access to drinking water. The indigenous community is aware of the problem, but has no means of stopping 'coca colonisation'.

Production Company: Autograf

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PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION

BOOKS ARE OUR WEAPONS
Director: Maté Konkol
Producer: Maté Konkol / Balász Zachar
Genre: Hybrid Documentary
Country: Hungary
Runtime: 75’
Estimated date of premiere: April 2025

Synopsis: Noémi and Péter are new members of FÉSZEK, a community of university students who are committed to studying critical social theory and also changing the world as activists. They participate in debates, reading circles, forums, choir and social life – and in the meantime realise how difficult it is to fit in, both for the first generation college student girl coming from a working class background, and the hedonistic, try-hard middle class boy. With its long takes and a stream of cultural references, our film levels form with meaning, while also depicting how the personal is political.

Production Company: -

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DIVIA
Director: Dmytro Hreshko
Producer: Polina Herman / Glib Lukianets / Richard Valk
Genre: Documentary
Country: Ukraine / Poland / Netherlands
Runtime: 80’
Estimated date of premiere: December 2024

Synopsis: Divia documentary reveals Ukraine's journey through unprecedented Russian aggression and its aftermath: forests reduced to ash, fields damaged by explosions, and the haunting presence of abandoned military wreckage amidst treacherous minefields. Amidst this desolation, nature stands as a silent witness, absorbing and beginning to heal from the scars of conflict. The meditative narrative without any dialogues follows deminers, body searchers, environmentalists, and animal activists who navigate the wreckage, striving to quantify the tragedy's impact and restore Ukraine's fragile ecosystems

Production Company: UP UA STUDIO / Gogol Film / Valk Productions

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HOMEMADE MULBERRY VODKA
Director: Anzhela Frangyan
Producer: Anzhela Frangyan / Stephane Jourdain / Mirjam Gelhorn
Genre: Documentary
Country: Armenia / France / Sweden
Runtime: 90’
Estimated date of premiere: 2026

Synopsis: Everytime I travelled out of the region I was afraid that soon the road would be closed. People kept asking; ‘’Why are you shooting so much?” I knew the answer to this question from the start. And the reason was the persistent feeling of the end, a premonition that soon this place, these faces, these mountains, houses, trees, everything might disappear and all of these people may never come together again. Unconsciously, I recorded long shots of the landscape, without any words or dialogues, as if I was trying to capture and preserve this world like it was in those moments.

Production Company: Dokino / La Huit / Mantaray

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THE CASTLE
Director: Danny Biancardi / Virginia Nardelli / Stefano La Rosa
Producer: Giulia Campagna / Nadeje Labe
Genre: Hybrid Documentary
Country: Italy / France
Runtime: 75’
Estimated date of premiere: February 2025

Synopsis: Angelo, Mery and Rosy are three 11-year-olds living in Danisinni, an isolated neighborhood in Palermo. Their expeditions lead them to an abandoned kindergarten in the middle of the main square. Driven by a desire for adventure, the group decides to explore it. Amidst the rubble, they discover a safe place where they can escape the gaze of others. A secret place where they can let their imaginations run wild without feeling judged. However, this island of freedom is in danger: after fifteen years of waiting, the kindergarten will soon be renovated by the city of Palermo.

Production Company: Zalab Film / La Societe du Sensible

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THE FLIGHT OF THE STORK
Director: Berta Salas / Soumaya Djahdou
Producer: Matheus Mello
Genre: Documentary
Country: Spain / Algeria
Runtime: 77’
Estimated date of premiere: February 2025

Synopsis: Soumaya, a young woman of Algerian descent, explores her relationship with her mother, Malika, as she prepares for a trip to Algeria during the month of Ramadan, with her childhood friend Berta, who films the journey. What begins as a nostalgic exchange reveals family tensions and a conflict of identity. Between memories and expectations, Soumaya seeks to reconcile her path with the heritage her mother expects her to honor and what she wishes for herself. Through love and memory, the two find common ground in their relationship.

Production Company: Migranta Films

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THE VIOLENT SKIN
Director: André Robert
Producer: Ashley J. Smith / Mario Adamson
Genre: Hybrid Documentary
Country: Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Costa Rica
Runtime: 93’
Estimated date of premiere: Summer 2025

Synopsis: In "The Violent Skin," I invoke the ghost of my father to have the conversation I could never have with him in life. I return to my family's rustic cabin in the coastal town of Cuajiniquil, ten years after scattering his ashes in the same sea that now, due to climate change, threatens to erase our home and family history. How do I tell him about the intergenerational violence that has afflicted the men in our family with a deadly silence that killed him and led me to repress my homosexuality for so many decades? The only thing I can tell him is a story about how a few months after he passed away, my Uncle Sergio, a hunter who lives isolated in the northern mountains of Costa Rica, invited me to the untamed wilderness to hunt a jaguar.

Production Company: Sisyfos Film Production

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WASTELAND CHRONICLES
Director: Viera Čákanyová / Barbora Sliepková / Lucia Kašová
Producer: Anna Mach Rumanová / Martina Netíková
Genre: Hybrid Documentary
Country: Slovakia / Czech Republic
Runtime: 80’
Estimated date of premiere: May 2025

Synopsis: The ‘Triangle of Death’ lies in eastern Slovakia, well beyond the horizon of interest of politicians and the wider public. The three chemical plants are responsible for the largest PCB contamination in Europe. Over the years, the tar pits in central Slovakia have morphed into a living mass. Every time it rains more than usual, the toxic water threatens to overtop the bank and inundate the residential part of the village. The contamination originating in the dump site of Bratislava chemical plant Istrochem has spread through the groundwater towards Žitný ostrov, the largest drinking water supply in Central Europe.

Production Company: filmsomnia / Cinémotif Films

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HISTORY

Kontakt Ji.hlava Industry

JARMILA OUTRATOVÁ
Head of Industry Office
jarmila@ji-hlava.cz

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

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