The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival and Czech entrepreneur Jan Barta joined forces to support outstanding auteur filmmaking from Central and Eastern Europe by launching the Ji.hlava / JB Films support scheme. The recipients of the support were announced on Wednesday, October 30 at during the Industry Days of the 28th Ji.hlava IDFF.
Three outstanding projects were selected for support in 2024:
Power, Elaine, directed and produced by Serbian director Mila Turajlić received a co-production support 40,000 EUR. In this memoir documentary, Elaine Mokhtefi revisits her days of radical activism tracing more than half a century of the rise and fall of progressive struggle. The estimated date of premiere is January 2025.
With Love, from the Frontline, directed by Ukrainian director Alisia Kovalenko and produced by Polish producer Katarzyna Kuczyńska (Emerging Producer 2023) received a co-production support 40,000 EUR. This personal project is based on the director’s private footages taken on the Ukrainian frontline from the early spring to summer of 2022. The film is expected to premiere in the first half of 2025.
Wishing on a Star directed and produced by Slovak director Peter Kerekes received a co-production support 30,000 EUR. Underneath the humorous mood, this documentary intends to be a tender and empathic investigation into a strong human need: looking for meaning in a cosmos filled with endless chaos. The film has already premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is screened at the Ji.hlava IDFF.
All revenues generated from the JI.HLAVA / JB FILMS co-production share will be reinvested into additional documentary film projects from Central and Eastern Europe in the future.
“For a long time we have been coming up with innovations in the film sector and the JI.HLAVA / JB FILMS support scheme is yet another one. It aims to create a community of documentary filmmakers who can help each other to finance their films. It also aims to motivate producers and directors to thoughtfully distribute their finished films. The pandemic has made it even more difficult to distribute art films and this initiative wants to offer a helping hand. Almost 80 films from Central and Eastern European countries have applied in our first call and all of them deserve to be supported. Although films from this region are strongly underrepresented at most festivals in Western Europe, as we have long monitored through the annual East West Index surveys, the entries show that we have a lot to look forward to in the near future,” says Marek Hovorka, director of Ji.hlava IDFF.
The projects were selected by a committee of experts Daniela Cölle (Pluto Film), Bernice Hahn (Square Eyes) and Galina Stepanova (DAFilms.com) joined by the representatives of Ji.hlava IDFF Marek Hovorka and Jarmila Outratová.
The Ji.hlava / JB Films has complemented an array of the festival’s instruments aiming at nurturing the documentary film ecosystem – adding to programmes such as Emerging Producers, Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market, First Lights Academy, and Docu Talents from the East.
The 28th Ji.hlava IDFF continues until November 3 in Jihlava, Czech Republic.
