Today, the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF was officially kicked off by 8th Day of the War by Ukrainian director Oksana Moiseniuk. With a diary-like immediacy, the film captures the outbreak of the Russian aggression through the eyes of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. The author follows eight Ukrainian people working in the Czech Republic. They all continue do their work tasks, but their minds are set on the events taking place in Ukraine as they try to help in any way they can.

Ji.hlava handed out the first festival awards. The award for the best short film was announced, based on the votes of online viewers on the VOD portal DAFilms.cz. The winning film in the Short Joy section is Blue Bed by Belgian director Lize Cuveele, an intimate insight into the relationship of a loving couple. The films can be watched for free on DAFilms.com until October 30.

The APA World Excellence Award which annually recognises an outstanding contribution to film production was also presented. This year the award accorded by the Czech Audiovisual Producers´ Association and the Ji.hlava IDFF goes to Romanian producer Ada Solomon. Ada Solomon has produced over 60 titles such as I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians (Radu Jude, 2018, Grand Prix Crystal Globe in KV IFF), AFERIM! (Radu Jude, 2015, Silver Bear Berlin) and Child’s Pose (Calin Netzer, 2013, Golden Bear Berlin). She has worked with the most promising Romanian filmmakers as Cristian Nemescu, Ivana Mladenovic, Alexandru Solomon or Răzvan Rădulescu and was executive producer for Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, among others.

The 26th Ji.hlava IDFF, the largest event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe will continue until October 30, with 376 film titles on its programme.