Festival du nouveau cinéma Montreal and Ottawa IFF

One of the most prominent Czech films featured in the autumn festival selections was I’m Not Everything I Want to Be (CZ, SK, AT) by Klára Tasovská, which premiered at Berlinale this year and traveled to tens of festivals since then. This unusual and stylish biographical documentary depicting the life and work of the prominent Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková through the assemblage of her own photos, produced by Tasovská and Lukáš Kokeš of Somatic Films, saw its North American Premiere at Camden IFF (12–15 September) in Cinematic Vision competition and also appeared in the programme of this year's Viennale (17–29 October). The film also made its way into the feature International Competition of the 53rd edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) in Montréal (9–20 October), one of the most important Canadian film festivals, characterized by the fresh and original selection of films aimed primarily at young audiences. Here, the film won the Daniel Langlois innovation award awarded to a work that stands out for its bold aesthetics, creative use of new technologies and innovative approach to a sensitive subject. In addition to Tasovská's highly successful documentary portrait, the festival also screened two distinctive animated short films: Criss Cross (SK, CZ) by Nina Rybárová and Tomáš Rybár, playfully stitching together pixel art game esthetics with the traditional technique of cross stitch embroidery, and Weeds by Polina Kazak, produced by Martin Vandas, Mária Môťovská and Jiří Pecinovský of MAUR film in cooperation with FAMO film school, which represented the Czech Republic at the 2024 Festival de Cannes. Both shorts graced the P'tits loups section. Another important Canadian festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival (25–29 September), featured four short animated films: I Died in Irpin (CZ, SK, UA) by Anastasiia Falieieva (Narrative Shorts), Hurikan (CZ, FR, SK, BA) by Jan Saska (World Panorama), About a Cow (CZ, CH) by Pavla Baštanová, and Marie by Jan B. Piskač. Eventually, I Died in Irpin won the Best Script Award and About a Cow garnered Honorable Mention.

Santa Fe Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Chicago IFF

Czech films also made their presence felt in the US territory this autumn. Waves (CZ, SK) by Jiří Mádl, the official Czech Oscar contender, was featured in the programmes of both 47th Mill Valley Film Festival (3–13 October) and 32nd Hamptons International Film Festival (4–14 October). The US premiere of Waltzing Matilda (CZ, SK), a feature debut by Petr Slavík, produced and written by Nataša Slavíková, director’s wife, and coproduced by Czech Television, VIRUSfilm, and i/o post, took place at the Santa Fe International Film Festival (16–20 October). The film also won the Best Narrative Feature Jury Award at Santa Fe. Following the world premiere at the Venice IFF and North American Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, Chicago IFF (17–27 October) selected the celebrated documentary Wishing on a Star (IT, SK, CZ, AT, HR) by director/producer Peter Kerekes into the Documentary Competition. Apart from this, the Czech film was also successful at the Denver Film Festival (1–10 November), the largest film festival in the region – the short animated film Humanity by Tereza Kovandová, produced by Kristina Husová of Cinepoint, the only Czech film in the programme, won the Marilyn Marsh Saint-Veltri Award for Best Student Animation Short there. And finally, an award-winning documentary film Forest (PL, CZ) by Lidia Duda, produced by Lumisenta Film Foundation (PL) and coproduced by Michal Sikora of Lonely Production on the Czech side, was selected for the International Competition at the DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary film festival, taking place in New York City between November 13–December 1.

DOK Leipzig, IDFA, Festival dei Popoli

Autumn was eventful for other Czech documentary films as well. One of the most important documentary film events, DOK Leipzig (28 October–3 November), unique among festivals worldwide for it’s combined documentary and animated film programme, offered four Czech films this year: the experimental short Hun Tun (CZ, FR) by Magdalena Hejzlarová, produced by Karolína Davidová of 13ka, along with Hurikan by Jan Saska in Short Animation Competition, feature documentary The Other One (CZ, SK) by Marie-Magdalena Kochová in Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe section, awarded with the MDR Film Prize for an outstanding Eastern European documentary, and finally Wishing on a Star by Peter Kerekes in the Audience Competition. Another major documentary film festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, or IDFA (14–24 November), features I’m Not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská (Best of Fest programme) and restored version of 1992 contemplative documentary Jakub by Jana Ševčíková (Dead Angle: Borders). Also worth mentioning is the presence of the the feature documentary Limits of Europe (CZ, FR, SK) by Apolena Rychlíková, produced by Tereza Horská, Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda of HYPERMARKET FILM, in the programme of Festival dei Popoli (2 to 10 November), alongside the short animation Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová, produced by Jiří Sádek of COFILM in coproduction with FAMU.

Primanima and CINANIMA

Primanima World Festival of First Animations (16–19 October), the Hungarian international festival dedicated to up-and-coming film directors, featured a representative selection of Czech animated shorts. These included Humanity by Tereza Kovandová, festival stalwart Rising Above by Natálie Durchánková, What's Happening Around Us and The Way by Krystina Ramanava, Fly By by Filip Dobeš, Marie by Jan B. Piskač, World I Live In by Ester Kasalová, Mr. Slumber by Zuzana Matysová, Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová, a vibrant film merging stop-motion with hand-drawn animation techniques to tell the story of a family vacation, which started its festival journey at Annecy earlier this year, I Will Die in This House by Adriana Bendzalová, and finally the Annecy-awarded Hurikan by Jan Saska awarded with the Masters Special Mention for Visual Story at Primanima. 

Eight Czech animated short films spread across five sections graced the programme of the 48th International Animated Film Festival CINANIMA in Portugal (8-17 November), including the world premiere of You Are My Light by Hana Stehlíková, produced by Zuzana Kučerová of Frame Films and co-produced by FAMU in the International Competition. Other selected films included I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falieieva (International Competition), Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová (International Competition), Kafka. In Love by Zane Oborenko (International Competition), Rising Above by Natálie Durchánková (Student Competition), Waves by Michael Carrington (Grand Panorama), The Goose by Jan Míka (Family Screening), and celebrated Electra by Daria Kashcheeva (Retrospectives).

Schlingel IFF, Cinekid, Athens Children Film Festival

The 29th edition of International Film Festival SCHLINGEL for children and young audience featured quite a number of Czech films this year: feature #annaismissing by Pavel Soukup, animated feature Even Mice Belong in Heaven by Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubeníček, animated shorts Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová, Humanity by Tereza Kovandová, and Weeds by Polina Kazak, coproductions Block 5 by Klemen Dvornik, Diplodocus by Wojtek Wawszczyk and Kaytek the Wizard by Magdalena Łazarkiewicz, TV movie The Key of Saint Peter by Karel Janák, and finally Living Large by Kristina Dufková, which won two prizes: Animated Feature Film Award and Club of Festivals Junior Award at SCHLINGEL. Living Large, one of the most successful Czech films this year in terms of its festival record, is currently nominated for the 2024 European Film Award in two categories and also eligible for the Oscar race.

Another important festival for children and youth audiences, Cinekid Festival (October 19 – November 3), selected four Czech films for this year's competition program: Block 5 (SI, CZ, HR, RS) by Klemen Dvornik, produced by Jakub Rálek of BFILM on the Czech side, Hello Summer (SK, CZ, FR) by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová, Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová and a fiction short summer09 by Nikolas Sand. Lastly, Czech films are going to have an especially strong and colorful presence at the Athens International Children's Film Festival soon. In total, 5 animated films and 1 series were selected for the upcoming edition of the festival, running 18–24 November 2024. Once again, Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová is featured, followed by Vicky the Sleepy-Bye Owl by Lucie Sunková (short), Cloudy by Zuzana Čupová and Filip Diviak (short), animated series Our Piggy by Jaromír Plachý, Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová (short), and lastly a coproduction animated feature Diplodocus (PL, CZ, SK) by Wojtek Wawszczyk.

CinEast

Seventeen Czech films were selected for the program of the 17th CinEast Festival (3–20 October): Mr. and Mrs. Stodola by Petr Hátle (Competition), Our Lovely Pig Slaughter by Adam Martinec (Funnyeast), Forever Hold Your Peace by Ivan Marinović (Funnyeast), Wishing on a Star by Peter Kerekes (Funnyeast), March to May by Martin Pavol Repka (Cinéscope), Her Drunken Diary by Dan Svátek (Cinéscope), Whirlwind by Peter Bebjak (Cinéscope), Waves by Jiří Mádl (Cinéscope), The World According to My Dad by Marta Kovářová (Cinédocs), The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism by Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov (Cinédocs), last year's animated hit Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light by Filip Pošivač (Cinéyouth), 3 MWh by Marie-Magdalena Kochová (Cinéshorts), Rising Above by Natálie Durchánková (Cinéshorts), Hello Summer by Martin Smatana and Veronika Zacharová (Cinéshorts), Joko by Izabelą Plucińską (Cinéshorts), and even two older Czechoslovak films: Alarm in the Clouds by Jindřich Polák (Cinéyouth) and Happy End by Oldřich Filipovský (Cinéspecials). Czech films also stormed the Audience Award category at the closing ceremony, taking home three awards at once. Jiří Mádl's film Waves, produced by Monika Kristlová of Dawson Productions, received the highest marks in the public vote (in cinemas and online) and was awarded the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. In addition, the Audience Awards for Best Short Film went to universally acclaimed Rising Above by Natálie Durchánková (Best Documentary Short) and Hello Summer by Martin Smatana & Veronika Zacharová (Best Animated Short).

Busan IFF and Tokio IFF

The Other One, a feature documentary debut by Marie-Magdalena Kochová, produced by Barbora Drtílková and Vít Poláček of m3 films and coproduced by Slovak Guča, Czech Television and FAMU, saw its international premiere at the biggest and most prestigious festival in Asia, Busan International Film Festival (2–11 October) in South Korea. Another important presence at the big Asian film festival was the world premiere of Promise, I’ll Be Fine (SK, CZ), a coming of age feature debut by Slovak director Katarína Gramatová, produced by Igor Engler of DRYEYE Film and Julie Marková Žáčková of NOCHI film, in the official competition of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (28 October–6 November).

São Paulo IFF

Four Czech films made it to the official selection of the 48th São Paul International Film Festival (17–30 October), or Mostra, one of the most important international film events in Brazil: After Party, a feature debut by Vojtěch Strakatý, which premiered at 2024 Venice IFF as a part of the Orizzonti Extra selection, the Annecy-awarded Living Large by Kristina Dufková, coproduction dramedy The Editorial Office (UA, DE, SK, CZ) by Roman Bondarchuk, and finally Waves by Jiří Mádl. In addition, Dry Season (CZ, DE, SK) by Bohdan Sláma was featured in the programme of the Festival do Rio (3–13 October), or Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

Czech & Slovak Film Festival of Australia and Adelaide IFF

The lineup of the 12th Czech & Slovak Film Festival of Australia (10–13 and 19–20 October in Melbourne and 1–2 and 9 November in Adelaide), a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization dedicated to showcasing the best films from the Czech and Slovak Republics and former Czechoslovakia, features 17 Czech films of various lengths and genres, including Our Lovely Pig Slaughter by Adam Martinec and I'm Not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská. Coincidentally, I'm Not Everything I Want to Be was also selected for the Documentary Competition programme at the Adelaide Film Festival (23 October–3 November), alongside Venice-awarded Green Border by Agnieszka Holland (World Cinema) and Hurikan by Jan Saska (Shorts Award competition).

Cottbus Film Festival

26 films across 10 sections, this was the number of Czech films that were screened at the 34th edition of the FilmFestival Cottbus (5–10 November). The selected films included Our Lovely Pig Slaughter by Adam Martinec, March to May by Martin Pavol Repka, both also selected for the Cairo International Film Festival, running 13–22 November, Waves by Jiří Mádl, the official Czech Oscar contender, or Dry Season by Bohdan Sláma, closing film at the upcoming edition of the Goa International Film Festival (20–28 November). Notable was a special program called Female Gaze: New Czech Films by Female Directors, presenting a colorful, genre- and thematically diverse selection of recent Czech productions by talented female filmmakers, which included Tiny Lights by Beata Parkanová, Her Body by Natálie Císařovská, Year of the Widow by Veronika Lišková, Ordinary Failures by Cristina Groșan, My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlátová, I’m Not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská, Limits of Europe by Apolena Rychlíková, Sea Salt by Leila Basma, Electra by Daria Kashcheeva, 3 MWh by Marie-Magdalena Kochová, Buzz of the Earth by dir. Greta Stocklasa, and Weeds by Polina Kazak. In addition, Cristina Groșan, director of the 2022 sci-fi drama Ordinary Failures featured in the Female Gaze program, was a member of the 2024 International Jury. Also worth noting was the presence of several Czech Film projects at the 26th edition of the East-West co-production market Connecting Cottbus, running 6–8 November. Four Czech film projects were featured in the 2024 cocoPITCH (a co-production platform dedicated to fiction feature film projects in development) and the 2024 cocoWIP (works in progress) selections: Eli and Them by Petr Pylypčuk, The Main Course by Viktorie Novotná, No Salvation Coming by Vojtěch Strakatý, and Three Weeks Under the Sea by Martin Kuba. In the end, Eli and Them won the The Producers Network Award, consisting of free accreditation to the Producers Network at the Marché du Film 2025, and No Salvation Coming received The MIDPOINT Institute Consulting Award.