28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Czech films - student
![8 and 1 Year of the War](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950567-1385433.jpeg?v=)
8 and 1 Year of the War
Dariia Kovalchuk
Czech Republic / 2023 / 4 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
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?
![Creature of the Sun](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950480-1392891.jpeg?v=)
Creature of the Sun
Šimona Müllerová
Czech Republic / 2023 / 27 min.
section: First Lights, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
Childlike imagination, naive playfulness and an enchanted view of the world are at the centre of this poetic film. The child protagonists talk about their dreams, fantasies and experiences while touching on metaphysical questions of body and soul, life and death. Magic permeates every frame of this colourful collage. “I don’t have any imaginary friend because I’m a realist.”
![Dancing in the Light](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950472-1374621.jpeg?v=)
Dancing in the Light
Julie Petríková
Czech Republic / 2023 / 28 min.
section: First Lights, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
Nelson Sullivan was a prominent figure in New York's queer community in the 1980s. With a video camera that he rarely let go of, he was also a chronicler of the club scene of the time. The archival documentary draws on the rich video archive Sullivan left behind. It looks at a marginalised subculture and the life of the man sometimes described as the first vlogger. “Should I talk to the camera like it's a person?”
![Gutwasser](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950547-1376419.jpeg?v=)
Gutwasser
Kateřina Konrádová
Czech Republic / 2023 / 10 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
Gutwasser as a former military retreat and pilgrimage site with healing springs. The story of a place captured in a single house, a single name, a single drop of water.
![If I Ever Want to Learn How to Fall Down](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950552-1385407.jpeg?v=)
If I Ever Want to Learn How to Fall Down
Hana Slaninová
Czech Republic / 2023 / 7 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
I heard about a man who trains pigeons to fall to the ground. He lets them out of the cage, the pigeons circle high in the sky. Then the man gives the signal and the pigeons start to fall. I was terrified and fascinated by the idea at the same time. I don't understand how it's possible and I'd like to find out. (author's text)
![Iron Cow](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950570-1385441.jpeg?v=)
Iron Cow
Barbora Aradská
Czech Republic / 2023 / 8 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
The film depicts the relationship between a farmer and his cattle. The protagonist is Milan Kazda, the mayor of the only energy self-sufficient municipality in the Czech Republic - Kněžice. The second character is his cow, which is constantly hungry and requires attention and care. Since she is a constant burden, she is figuratively an iron cow for the farmer.
![mines](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950564-1385432.jpeg?v=)
mines
Dariia Kovalchuk
Ukraine, Czech Republic / 2023 / 5 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
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.
![Of Fences and Men](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_932452-1385891.jpeg?v=)
Of Fences and Men
Petr Michal
Czech Republic / 2023 / 12 min.
section: First Lights, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
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 People and Snow](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950562-1377340.jpeg?v=)
Of People and Snow
Viktorie Aldabagh
Czech Republic / 2023 / 7 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
The world is losing snow every year and people don't want to accept it. The film Of People and Snow is about what we are willing to do so that we don't have to say goodbye to snow yet.
![Revenge Is the Answer](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950561-1377350.jpeg?v=)
Revenge Is the Answer
Viktorie Aldabagh
Czech Republic / 2023 / 2 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
The film shows a cleansing ritual in the presence of two shoes and four girls who know that revenge is healthy for people.
![The Scyther](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950475-1383561.jpeg?v=)
The Scyther
Mikoláš Arsenjev
Czech Republic / 2023 / 27 min.
section: First Lights, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
David Vostrovský is a professional reaper. With his sharpened scythe and years of experience, he participates in international grass cutting tournaments and teaches his craft to others. The film is a probe into this unusual hobby and an alternative lifestyle in the bosom of nature, which the reaper shares with his two adult children. “The relationship between humankind and nature is fading; it's becoming a cliché.” Source: Český rozhlas
![To Hear to Feel / Почути відчути](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950546-1376414.jpeg?v=)
To Hear to Feel / Почути відчути
Kateřina Konrádová
Poland, Czech Republic / 2023 / 10 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
What can be done to cover 550 km? Ocean splashes, phone signals and kitchen rituals as a bilingual tale of the search for a love language.
![We Used to Have a Garden](/media/thumbs/films/thumb_400x280_950553-1385411.jpeg?v=)
We Used to Have a Garden
Hana Slaninová
Czech Republic / 2023 / 8 min.
section: FAMU Presents, Ji.hlava Online
World Premiere
In this meditative and playful time-lapse documentary, the author observes a gardener and a garden gnome searching for a lost garden in a concrete backyard.