Long a champion of human rights-focused work, the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival screened a compelling collection of films focused on Roma inequality issues in its 26th edition. One of the most moving, “Leaving to Remain,” which follows three Roma figures who have emigrated from Central Europe to the U.K.,…
Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival
Canadian documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal was “excited and happy” to pick up an award at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival for “Into the Weeds: Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson vs. Monsanto Company.” Johnson, who developed a deadly form of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, took Monsanto to trial, alleging it failed to warn about cancer risks…
Azeri filmmaker Hilal Baydarov’s work has won attention for its stunning imagery, confident framing and lyrical pacing, turning landscapes into hypnotic portraits of alien but familiar worlds. His masterclass at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival – his first ever and one he had to be thoroughly talked into, he…
It’s time to put “values into action” in the documentary field, argued professor Patricia Aufderheide at Ji.hlava Film Festival. Addressing ethical issues that doc filmmakers identify in their work, Aufderheide – who joined the conference online – offered concrete solutions, referencing DAWG’s [Documentary Accountability Working Group] framework “From Reflection to…
The power of sound and the impacts of war dominated the 26th Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival awards, with French doc “07:15 – Blackbird” taking home both the main prize and the cinematography award. The story of a young girl’s quest to identify the call of a mysterious bird, directed…
An experienced Czech cop proved to be the right man for the job when European justice officials began probing the war crimes that grew out of the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 90s. But Viktor Portel’s film “The Investigator,” screening in the main competition at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary…
Lidia Duda’s “Forest,” currently in development, emerged victorious at Ji.hlava Film Festival, picking up its first-ever New Visions Award for the most promising European project. The trophy comes with post-production services valued at €15,000 and €5,000, courtesy of UPP and Soundsquare, respectively. Polish doc – set to premiere in 2024…
Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko unveiled first-look footage of upcoming documentary “Frontline” at Ji.hlava Film Festival’s Inspiration Forum. Filmed during her four-month stint in the Ukrainian army, it will be “slow and reflective,” focusing on brief moments of calm in-between chaos. “I was filming only when there was nothing to do,”…
Hushed audiences witnessed footage of the first Russian shells hitting cities in Ukraine on the opening night of the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival on Tuesday as frontline filmmaking was honored. Oksana Moiseniuk’s “8th Day of the War” screened at the Czech city’s venerable DKO cultural hall after audiences heard…
Eileen Muza is the only year-round resident of Cisco, Utah, a ghost town established all the way back in the 1880s and commemorated in Ridley Scott’s “Thelma & Louise.” Tourists, who would occasionally stop by, saw sad remains of the past. Eileen saw potential. “One person’s throwaway is another person’s…
Andrea Kleine was supposed to perform at The Chocolate Factory Theater in New York when the pandemic put a halt to her plans. Together with her partner, musician Bobby Previte, she decided to move into the venue and continue as planned. This time, without an audience. “When we first moved…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took many by surprise, including Oksana Moiseniuk, the director of Ji.hlava Film Festival’s opener “8th Day of the War.” “Nobody was ready for it. On the sixth day of war, I understood I was living in a documentary,” Ukrainian director tells Variety. Moiseniuk, who has been…