12th Jihlava IDFF 2008 – Day One

25-10-2008

12th Jihlava IDFF 2008 – Day One

The 12^th year of Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival was opened in the grand hall of DKO by the screening of the film Ivetka and the Mountain by director Vít Janeček. Nevertheless, the film about a woman who saw the Virgin Mary as a small child but who tries to live a normal life independent from religious interpretations today was not the first film for the audiences to watch. For instance, the film Law and Order was screened in the Dukla cinema at 5 p.m. Its American director Frederick Wiseman came to Jihlava today; in the following days, he will present the profile of his life career. In the morning, the Media and Documentary Workshop started; meant primarily for film and journalism students, the workshop introduces various genres dealing with the film in the printed media.

On Saturday, the viewers can expect a rich program selection including complete novelties. The first novelty is the Darkroom section, comparing the relationship of photography and documentary film. Before each evening screening in the grand hall of DKO, Antoine D'Agata's will personally present his photographs to the audience. Another film from Wiseman's army trilogy will follow in the Dukla cinema Reform hall at 2 p.m.; entitled Basic Training, the film characterizes the military morale of Western democracy. The film A Prima Vista by Austrian director Michael Pilz will be screened in the little hall of the Dukla cinema, Edison, at 10:30. The film is a meditative documentary about the director's journey of disengagement in the sense of Eastern philosophy. The continuation of the Media and Documentary Workshop will take place in the Design School Auditorium at 10 a.m.; panel discussions called Open Archives will follow. Starting at 2 p.m., the first one will deal with the topic "Archives in training and education"; the second one starts at 5 p.m. and it will focus on audiovisual archives. The conference will be concluded by a discussion with Woody Vašulka.

SECTION FOR FILM PROFESSIONALS

East European Forum Awards

Joan Morselt, IDFA FORUM Coordinator, selected the Polish project Puppets by Thierry Paladino and Jacek Nagłowski as the winner of the IDFA FORUM Award. The winning project will receive a free participation at the IDFA FORUM. The Sunny Side of the Doc Award for the best workshop pitch goes to Austria's Tomorrow You Will Leave by Martin Nguyen and Arash T. Riahi. The filmmakers receive a free accreditation to the Sunny Side of the Doc market. The awards were presented at the Jihlava IDFF Opening Ceremony. IDF will support both projects with further scholarships. The public pitch sessions start Saturday, Oct 25 at the Horacke Theatre, at 9:30am.

Contact: Hana Rezková, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.DOCUinter.net.

East Silver TV Focus - Designed to serve TV BUYERS

East Silver TV Focus is designed to support Eastern European documentary production and international broadcast of documentaries produced in the Eastern Europe region.

With personal approach and knowledge of your slot, we make individual selection for you and recommend particular film titles from our large database, custom made to fit precisely to your TV slot, or to the actual needs of your programming.

For more information about East Silver TV Focus, please contact:Anna Kaslova | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | tel: +420 222 954 526 | www.eastsilver.net

A warm welcome to the Jihlava IDFF 2008 from

Marek Hovorka / festival director / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Andrea Slováková / programmer and head of communications / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jan Hlubek / media manager and press service / 723 394 769 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jan Hintenaus / head of production / 774 101 652 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Main partner:

RWE Transgas a. s.

Main media partner:

Česká televize

Co organiser of industry section:

Institute of Documentary Film

Partner of the square section:

Kronospan

Partners:

Easytalk

Student agency