Hurikan featured at SXSW

After being selected for the Short Film Program at 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Hurikan by Jan Saska landed in the program of another big North American film event – The SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas, running 7–15 March. Following the success of his Oscar-shortlisted Happy End (2016), Hurikan ventures into the hard-boiled genre with a uniquely Czech sensibility. The film follows its pig-headed protagonist on a chaotic, action-packed night as he attempts to deliver a keg of beer to a shop run by a barmaid he hopes to impress. Produced by Martin Vandas of MAUR film and Kamila Dohnalová of Last Films, in collaboration with partners from France, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The film started its festival run at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival last year, where it won the Audience Award, followed by screenings at DOK Leipzig, Sitges Film Festival, or Melbourne IFF.

Living Large wins at Anima

Anima, or the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, running 28 February – 9 March, presented two feature and seven short Czech animated films in its bold 2025 program. Selected films included Living Large by Kristina Dufková (feature), Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light by Filip Pošivač (feature), Hurikan by Jan Saska (short), Joko by Izabela Plucinska (short), Keep Out by Tan Lui Chan (short), Weeds by Polina Kazak (short), Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová (short), Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová (short), and finally Free the Chickens by Matúš Vizár (short). The festival had a double happy ending for the Czech film: Living Large garnered the Best Animated Feature Award in the International Feature Film Competition for Children, and Hello Summer received non-statutory award from BRUZZKet children jury.

Alice Nellis at Bergamo Film Meeting

In its 43rd edition, the Europe, Now! section of the Bergamo Film Meeting, dedicated to contemporary European auteur cinema, presented the complete filmography (10 feature films in total) of prolific Czech filmmaker Alice Nellis, who also personally attended the festival. In addition to this special occasion, the festival offered screenings of several other Czech films: March to May, a gentle feature debut by Martin Pavol Repka shined in the Competition Exhibition program, feature documentary The Other One by Marie-Magdalena Kochová, which saw its international premiere at the biggest festival in Asia, Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, made it to the Close Up program, and animated short I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falileieva, which garnered the Award for Best International Animation earlier this year at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, in the Animation Cinema: AnReal program. Bergamo Film Meeting took place on 8-16 March. Learn more about the retrospective HERE.

Bohdan Sláma Retrospective at Sofia Film Fest

From 10 to 14 March, a retrospective of five films by Czech director Bohdan Sláma, one of the emblematic Czech directors who continue the tradition of the Czechoslovak New Wave, was screened at the Czech Centre in Sofia as part of the Sofia Film Fest. The director personally presented his latest film The End of the World on 15 March at the Odeon cinema in Sofia and received the Special Award of the festival. The retrospective also included the following films: Dry Season (2024), Shadow Country (2020), Four Suns (2012), A Country Teacher (2008) and Something Like Happiness (2005). Apart from this, two Czech minority co-productions, The Editorial Office by Roman Bondarchuk, co-produced by Dagmar Sedláčková of MasterFilm, and The Constitution by Rajko Grlic, co-produced by Rudolf Biermann of IN Film Praha, were part of the official selection as well.

Several world premieres at Thessaloniki IDF

Czech film had a noteworthy representation at the 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TiDF), which took place from Thursday 6 to Sunday 16 March both in physical and online spaces. A total of 8 Czech films, including several with world premiere status, were selected for this edition. Resilience by Tomáš Elšík, produced by Jitka Kotrlová of Frame Films, and Queens of Joy (UA, FR, CZ) by Olga Gibelinda, co-produced by Hana Blaha Šilarová of Films & Chips, both ended up in Newcomers Competition. Child of Dust (PL, VN, SE, CZ, QA) by Weronika Mliczewska, co-produced by Michal Sikora of Lonely Production, was part of the International Competition and was eventually honored with Special Mention award, while The Other One by Marie-Magdalena Kochová, What About Petey? by Martin Trabalík and Wishing on a Star (IT, SK, CZ, AT, HR) by Peter Kerekes graced the Open Horizons program. Aditionally, Time Metallurgist by Tomáš Rampula made it to the AI Tribute, and Mr. Nobody Against Putin (DK, CZ) by David Borenstein, which was awarded at the Sundance earlier this year, took place in the Special Screenings program.

Czech trace at BUFF Malmö Film Festival

Several Czech films also made it into the program of the BUFF Malmö Film Festival, an international children’s and youth film festival held annually in March. Since 1984, it has offered the most important screening window for films for children and young people in the Nordics. The slew of selected films comprises Living Large by Kristina Dufková, Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová, World I Live In by Ester Kasalová, and Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin at CPH:DOX

Mr. Nobody Against Putin, the latest documentary by U.S.-born, Denmark-based filmmaker David Borenstein, offers an unprecedented glimpse into life in Putin's Russia through the eyes of Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, a teacher turned accidental documentarian. The film, produced by Danish outfit made in copenhagen in co-operation with Radovan Síbrt, Alžběta Karásková, and Petra Dobešová of Czech production house PINK, uncovers the chilling impact of state propaganda. Mr. Nobody Against Putin premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance earlier this year, and now is part of HIGHLIGHTS section at CPH:DOX, running March 19–30.

Back to Cleveland International Film Festival

One of the longest-running and largest film festivals in the United States, the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), selected some of the most celebrated Czech films from last year: historical drama Waves by Jiří Mádl, which recently won the Czech Lion Award for Best Feature Film, energizing documentary portrait I’m Not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská, another fresh Czech Lion laureate, Polish-Czech documentary Forest by Lidia Duda, co-produced by Michal Sikora of Lonely Production, and animated short Hello Summer. All features are part of the George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition, which already featured many Czech films in previous years, with Tasovská’s and Duda's films also being selected for the Reel Women Direct Award for Excellence in Directing By a Woman competition program. The festival will took place March 27–April 13.

Two world premieres at Visions du Réel

Chronicle (SK, CZ), a feature documentary by Slovak director and cinematographer Martin Kollár, produced by Ivan Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský and Katarína Tomková of Punkchart films (SK), and co-produced by Lukáš Kokeš and Klára Tasovská of the Czech production outfit Somatic Films, will see its world premiere at the upcoming Visions du Réel as part of the International Medium Length & Short Film Competition. In addition, What If We Run Out of Stones?, a short experimental film about stones and people, directed by Nora Štrbová and produced by Hana Šormová and FAMU, will see its world premiere in the Opening Scenes program. This year's edition of Visions du Réel runs 4–13 April.

Hong Kong IFF to welcome four Czech films

Four Czech films were revealed to be part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), one of Asia’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The selected films include the Asian premiere of the stop-motion feature Tales from the Magic Garden (CZ, SK, SI, FR) by David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar and Jean-Claude Rozec, which premiered at Berlinale this year, Waves by Jiří Mádl, Wishing on a Star by Peter Kerekes and finally the restored version of Ester Krumbachová's Czechoslovak New Wave classic Murdering the Devil. The 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival is scheduled to take place from April 10 to April 21.