Slovakia and Czech Republic for Human Rights

An international competition of Slovak and Czech documentary feature films. The winner is selected by a three-member international jury. These films mirror the current events in our region, and they also help us compare two very close yet separate film industries – Slovak and Czech.

Films of the section Slovakia and Czech Republic for Human Rights

A HAPPY MAN

The true story of man, who for the sake of living truthfully and authentically risks losing what is most precious. The film A Happy Man opens with Czech graphic designer and writer Marvin Horvat reminiscing about his recent past in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, when he was an ordinary Czech woman in a relationship …

15×15×5 (MINISALON 1984)

An essay film on the limits of freedom framed by the story of a unique Czechoslovak artistic experiment from the Normalisation period. In the “Orwellian” year of 1984, artist Joska Skalník distributed wooden boxes around the Czechoslovak art scene with a call for unrestrained artistic play. The resulting works of 244 artists make up the …

ALL MEN BECOME BROTHERS

During the liberalization of the 1960s, Alexander Dubček, the leader of the Prague Spring, advocated the idea of “socialism with a human face” that was eventually crushed by Soviet tanks in 1968. In the subsequent all-pervading darkness, Dubčekʼs face became a symbol. In All Men Become Brothers, Slovak director Robert Kirchhoff examines this enduring symbol …

ART TALENT SHOW

Every year, The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU) holds entrance exams. At three different studios, the film observes a demanding challenge the teachers are facing: how to find the chosen few in the crowds of applicants, the new talents who will be given opportunities to shape the art world in the coming years? …

BLIX NOT BOMBS

Greta had just turned 8 years old when she watched the tragic events of 9/11 unfold on her TV in Stockholm. In the following months and years she saw her fellow countryman, diplomat Hans Blix, become a major figure in the global crisis as the chief weapons inspector for the UN. Now, in the 21st …

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

In Happily Ever After, documentarian Jana Počtová explores five stories of people who have decided to seek happiness in relationships that could hardly be considered usual. “What do 21st century relationships look like? Is the monogamous model of a man and a woman still enough? Does love not take more varied shapes than what is …

NOTES FROM EREMOCENE

Taking place in a future that does not yet exist, Notes from Eremocene questions the ideal techno-optimistic model that lies ahead of us. From a curious, playful and critical standpoint, filmmaker Viera Čákanyová explores the potential of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in dealing with complex global problems wehumans create – climate change and the crisis of representative democracy. Combining diaristic film footage with 3D …

PHOTOPHOBIA

On a cold February morning, 12-year-old Niki and his family arrive at a Kharkiv metro station to take shelter from the terrifying war raging outside. For Nikiʼs family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the boy is not allowed to leave the station and the ever-present glow of its neon lights. While aimlessly wandering …

TERRITORY OF IMAGINATION

The film explores the image of war in an era of enduring peace. On the background of mass events, which primarily serve as a necessary reminder of historical events, but seem more like bizarre celebrations of war, we engage the viewer in a game of imaginary, in which the notion of war varies across generations. War as …

THE INVESTIGATOR

Vladimír Dzuro is the first Czech investigator to have worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He collected evidence against war criminals and hunted perpetrators of ethnic cleansing. What is the landscape of the Balkans, a region that saw a conflict twenty-five years ago, like today? What happened to the people who …

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MY DAD

Czech maverick, materials physicist and passionate handyman, RNDr. Jiří Svoboda, CSc., Dsc., has an idea on how to save the planet. But no one will listen to him. His daughter, Marta, a musician and mother of two, is frustrated at this. She takes her camera and ventures “out into the world” with her dad. She …

TURNUS

The Shift depicts the fates of various people – a truck driver, a care-worker in Austria and a group of manual workers – who face the challenges of demanding week-long work tours. The film reflects on their dreams and desires, but also the sacrifices they have to make while they work in foreign cities and …