The festival spot of the 22nd Ji.hlava IDFF has been premiered today in the Thermal Hotel in Karlovy Vary. Its author is the renowned French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard. The Ji.hlava IDFF’s spot was officially released during the 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
“And even if nothing turned out how we’d hoped, it would not have changed what we’d hoped for,” says Godard in the festival spot.
“This year’s festival spot created by Jean-Luc Godard follows in the line of outstanding works made for the festival by such figures as Godfrey Reggio, Jan Němec and Jóhann Jóhannsson. The festival spot comes in the format of a short film, an intimate haiku. Even within the framework of this minute-long minimalist format, Jean-Luc Godard remained loyal to his signature method of layering meanings and references. Each new viewing opens up new interpretations,” says Marek Hovorka, the director of the Ji.hlava IDFF.
“Godard sets filmmaking in the context of the history of arts, works with references to popular works of fine arts. At the same time, it shows how inseparable the work is from the author and how important role inner authenticity plays in terms of authorship. Flipping through photos in Godard’s cell phone, the history of arts spontaneously alternates with his own memories, selfies and the perspective of a dog that gives the human position a different angle,” adds Hovorka.
The oeuvre of Jean-Luc Godard, who started his filmmaking career in the 1950s, is considered one of the cornerstones of world cinema. With such renowned titles as Breathless, Pierot Le Fou and Alphaville. His latest film Le Livre d'image produced this year won him the very first awarded Special Palm Dor in Cannes. “The form of this award clearly attests to Godard’s outstanding talent. Although this world-renowned filmmakers has already turned 87, he introduced a film that the jury of the main Cannes competition had no clue how to categorise. However, they were so struck by the film that – unfortunately to Godard’s detriment – created a special category,“ says Hovorka.
The Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival is one of the most prominent European festivals focusing on documentary cinema and the largest event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira described the event as the “Mecca of documentary filmmaking”. The festival programme traditionally offers over one hundred films shown in their world, international or European premiere. The festival’s pivotal competition sections include the main competition Opus Bonum, section dedicated to filmmaking debuts First Lights, Fascinations focusing on contemporary experimental film and Eastern European competition Between the Seas, this year extended with an additional student category. The Ji.hlava IDFF is a co-founder of the pan-European festival network Doc Alliance and the VOD portal – DAFilms.com.
The 22nd Ji.hlava IDFF will take place on October 25–30 2018.
