Yes, there were awards presented at the closing night ceremony on 28 October 2013 (see our accompanying article). But the biggest award – bestowed by the number of industry attendees and the enthusiastic, mostly young audiences – goes to the festival itself. An originator of innovative programmes beginning with the East Silver Market, the festival is gathering laurels for its most recent creations, the Festival Identity programme and the Emerging Producers programmes. The scope and richness of the redesigned festival doesn’t end with these two high profile events. There was also a meeting of regional film fund representatives in the second edition of the Visegrad Accelerator event, and for the philosophically-inclined, an Inspiration Forum featuring leading thinkers from a wide range of fields and regions. The Institute of Documentary Film’s Ex-Oriente programme, which was the hot spot for the industry for almost a decade, is still a presence, but with its public presentation of documentary film projects moved to the One World festival (taking place in Prague each spring), the festival has regained an even balance among its rich array of offerings.
Jarmila Outratova joined the festival as head of its industry office in June, coordinating the multiple events taking place within its jurisdiction. Under her rein, TV stations increased their presence at the festival. Czech TV had a presentation on its new documentary films. Jan Maxa, director of programme development and formats, told FNE that he’s particularly looking forward to the station’s new docudrama Czech Century which is starting its first of two seasons. HBO Europe presented a case study of its Czech coproduction The Great Night which took the best film prize in the festival’s competition of Czech documentaries.
Young producers were a strong presence, both as part of the Emerging Producers programme for up-and-coming documentary producers – with 20 producers participating in 2013 – and at the MIDPOINT workshop founded by Prague’s FAMU film school for producers just beginning their professional careers.
Among the original programmes launched at Jihlava was the Festival Identity networking programme. Among the topics addressed by the festival representatives at the two-day workshop were issues of marketing, promotion, and audience building. The growing power of social media and the importance of special events in attracting audiences were urgent topics, while the cost-versus-impact of print catalogues and festival dailies drew widely divergent opinions.
Although Hovorka said the festival budget was slightly lower, it was far from evident, either in the vibrant atmosphere that permeated the festival (aided by the best weather in memory), the eclectic guest list and high energy social and networking events, or the wealth of industry programmes and film screenings. A common refrain permeated the festival: attendees loved it for all the opportunities it offered for networking in the small city on the Bohemian Moravian border, while bemoaning the lack of time to take in all the film screenings on their wish lists.
