For a first-time visitor to Jihlava it can be difficult to navigate the many concurrently running programmes, that go beyond the films in the several competition sections and expected accompanying events. There’s the parallel East Silver Market, which gives its own awards in three categories, two training and networking platforms (Ex Oriente, which works with specific projects, and Emerging Producers, which works with younger producers), a whole programme for festival directors, and series of lectures and panels with a philosophical bent. The combination attracted over 1,000 industry representatives and another 3,000 audience members to a festival in a provincial town in the darkening days of late October.
As a sort of compensation for last year’s jury decision not to give any award in the Czech film competition, this year two Czech films shared the prize of the Czech Joy section at Jihlava IDFF, which concluded on 30 October 2016. Films from Georgia and Lithuania picked up awards in the Between the Seas category, Poland and Slovakia took home prizes from the East Silver Market, and Drahomira Vihanova, one of the first female Czech directors, received the Contribution to World Cinema Award for her work and her unwillingness to submit to the Communist regime.
In a mock US election, Jihlava fest voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind another woman breaking through the male bastions of power, with 83% casting a vote for the Democrats, in support of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. The festival screened a special section of films on the American elections.
Normal Autistic Film by Miroslav Janek, which was acquired by Taskovski Films, shared the Czech Joy award with another film about tolerance, FC Roma by Rozalie Kohoutova and Tomas Bojar. The competition section of CEE films Between the Seas was won by the Georgian film The Dazzling Light of Sunset directed by Salome Jashi. The film also won the Best Debut award. The dynamic Polish production company Otter Films picked up the top award of the East Silver documentary market competition for Anna Zemecka’s full-length film Communion.
The list of winners follows:
Opus Bonum
Spectres Are Haunting Europe (France)
Directed by Marta Kourkouta, Niki Giannari
Special Mention: Smiling on the Phone (Netherlands, Spain, US)
Directed by Aitziber Olaskoaga
Between the Seas
The Dazzling Light of Sunset (Georgia, Germany)
Directed by Salome Jashi
Produced by Sacdoc Film and inselfilm production
Special Mention: Dialogue with Joseph (Lithuania, France)
Directed by Elzbieta Josade
Produced by Just a Moment
Best Debut: The Dazzling Light of Sunset (Georgia, Germany)
Directed by Salome Jashi
Special Mention: Sea Tomorrow (Kazakhstan, Germany)
Directed by Katerina Suvorova
Czech Joy (ex aequo)
Normal Autistic Film (Czech Republic)
Directed by Miroslav Janek
Produced by Mimesis Film
FC Roma (Czech Republic)
Directed by Tomas Bojar and Rozalie Kohoutova
Produced by nutprodukce, HBO Europe
Short Joy
Ten Meter Tower (Sweden)
Directed by Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson
Student Jury
Normal Autistic Film (Czech Republic)
Directed by Miroslav Janek
The Things (Georgia)
Directed by Nino Gogua
Produced by CineMark
Supported by Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC)
Best Experimental Film
Engram of Returning (Canada)
Directed by Daichi Saito
Best Czech Experimental Film
De Potentia Dei (Czech Republic)
Directed by Ondrej Vavrecka
Produced by Ondrej Vavrecka
Audience Award
Love Me If You Can (Czech Republic)
Directed by Dagmar Smrzova
Produced by Czech Television
East Silver Docs Silver Eye Awards
Best Full-length film: Communion (Poland)
Directed by Anna Zamecka
Produced by Otter Films, Wajda Studio, HBO Europe
Best Mid-length film: 5 October (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
Directed by Martin Kollar
Produced by Punkchart
Coproduced by HBO Europe, endorfilm, 71 km
Special Mention: My Own Private War (Netherlands)
Directed by Lidija Zelovic
Best Short Film: Pulse (Hungary, Belgium, Portugal)
Directed by Robin Petré
