Prague, January 30th2018
Press release No. 3
LET YOURSELF BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE 25TH EDITION OF FEBIOFEST
The 25th edition of the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest will have its gala opening at the Municipal House on March 15th, 2018 and continue in Prague until March 23rd. Down-sized versions of the festival will then take place in other regions. This landmark edition of the festival promises not only first-rate films and guests but also a host of special new items and events.
17 cities and towns, 15 sections, 160 films and 450 screenings
As well as taking place in Prague, the festival will expand further to the regions when, from March 26th to April 21st, it visits 16 cities and towns around the Czech Republic. It will present more than 160 feature films in 15 sections in over 450 screenings. In the Prague section of the festival, films will be screened as every year at the CineStar Praha – Anděl multiplex, the CineStar multiplex at Černý Most and at the NFA’s Ponrepo cinema in central Prague.
New dramaturgical direction
Last year Anna Kopecká and Michal Hogenauer took over as the festival’s artistic directors and introduced a freshnew program concept. “We believe that the changes helped make the selection of films more readable and comprehensible, so we’re building on them this year,” said Hogenauer.
Main festival sections
The four main sections include Central Park, featuring distribution pre-premieres, the premieres of Czech pictures and star-driven viewer-friendly movies for a general audience. This is balanced by the Panorama section, which maps trends and award-winning films from the world’s leading festivals. The program’s flagship is the competition section New Europe, containing 10 powerful authorial works by emerging filmmakers. A counterpoint to this is the Masters section, which delivers the latest films from big-name directors. “We have also stayed faithful to several sections that represent films from particular regions. So we have sections focused on the Asian, Balkan and Scandinavian regions, but also films by US independent directors. In the section Queer Now we’re once again screening works exploring themes of identity and orientation. And New Circus is a section for action and horror movie buffs,” added Anna Kopecká.
Best of Febiofest
One of the special sections in this year’s landmark edition is Best of, which presents 10 of the most popular films shown at the festival since its foundation in 1993. “In cooperation with ČSFD we’ve selected what are genuinely the most popular films screened during those 25 years. We hope that loyal festival viewers will come along to remember their first encounters with these pictures,” said program director Anna Kopecká. Among the films being screened are Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, Mulholland Drive by David Lynch and The Pianist by Roman Polanski.
Marta Kubišová – chairwoman of the New Europe jury
The honorary chairwoman of the New Europe section this year will be singer MartaKubišová. The section focuses on emerging directors who are showing their first or second pictures at the festival. The jury comprises 33 film buffs, headed by Marta Kubišová,and will choosefrom the 10 competing films from around Europe; the winning film will receive the Grand Prix and a EUR 5,000 cash reward at the festival’s closing ceremony.
Topical Masters
The Masters section, which focuses on the latest work of directors whose previous films have entered world cinema history, will present filmmakers from France, Germany, the US and Iran. The 12 pictures include Roman Polanski’s mysterious drama Based on a True Story and Abbas Kiarostami’s most recent film 24 Frames. Also being presented is Terrence Malick’s latest Song to Song, starring Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender. These new works will be complemented by special screenings of two restored films by French New Wave directors that are little known to Czech audiences: Jean-Luc Godard’s Rise and Fall of a Small Film Company, a TV film, and Out 1: Noli me tangere, a 12-hour opus by Jacques Rivette.
Popular Culinary Cinema
For the fourth time Febiofest is offering a combination of film and dining experiences within the Culinary Cinema section. The section of film screenings linked tofirst-rate dinners produced by the top class chefs Marek Fichtnerand Marek Raditschfeatures the road movieParis Can Wait by director Eleanor Coppola;the energetic Asian pictureCook Up a Stormby Yip Wai Mana; and a behind the scenes look at famous restaurants in Michelin Stars – Tales from the Kitchenby documentary maker Rasmus Dinesen. After each screening guests will be served a themed dinner in the restaurant of the adjacent hotelVienna House Andel's Prague. The Culinary Cinema section is supplemented by Wasted!, a documentary on the wasting of food.
Generation for a young generation
The Generation section delivers subjects that are topical for young audiences. The influence of social networks on how people are perceived by their friends and the online image people create of themselves, the desire to fit in with one’s peers, to deal with problems impulsively and free of inhibitions, or to deal with problems that are inappropriate for a certain age, the abandonment of popular culture… The selection of films includes Planet Czechia by director Marián Polák, which reveals the hidden diversity of the nature around us and was filmed at spots where Jan Svěrák shot the Oscar-winning Oilgobblers. The section also includes the latest animated films.
Profile of Arnaud Desplechin
As part of a profile, the 25th edition of Febiofest will presentFrench director Arnaud Desplechin and the director’s version of his film Ismael’s Ghosts, which opened the 70th Cannes International Film Festival in 2017. The movie’s leads are the major stars Marion Cotillard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Amalric and Hippolyte Girardot. The director and actor Hippolyte Girardot will present the film in person at a screening on Tuesday, March 20th, 2018.
Expanded Docs
TheDocs section, which in the past concentratedsolely on music documentaries, has been expanded. In this year’s edition the focus will also be on themed, visually impressive documentary filmsset in the jungle, outer space, libraries and refugee camps.
You’re the Filmmaker
For the fifth time the You’re the Filmmaker competition is welcoming shorts from young filmmakers and film enthusiasts. “The only limit is adhering to the technical requirements and film duration, which is one to three minutes. Films can be shot on any kind of device. Creativity knows no boundaries,” said Febiofest president FeroFenič. An expert jury will select the winner, who will receive a CZK 30,000 prize.
New festival passes
Festival passes are a new feature this year: three-day, five-day and nine-day (meaning for the entire duration of the festival). Festival passes offer not just reduced price tickets to screenings but also free or discounted entrance to the festival’s accompanying program, festival gifts and many more benefits. Festival pass holders can also reserve tickets from noon on March 8th; regular online advance sales don’t begin until midnight that same day.
Ponrepo again
This year’s edition of the festival builds on the tradition of cooperation with the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo cinema, which underwent digitalizationin 2017 and will again serve as a festival screening hall during the 25th edition. Reprises of some films from the Panorama, Asian View and Masters sections will take place there, while the film 24 Frames will get its only screening there and the festival weekend will offer Jacques Rivette’s Out 1, which in the original version comprised eight separate episodes and is 12 hours long in total; it will be shown on two days in four blocks at Ponrepo.
Accompanying program
As is traditional, film screenings will be complemented by a rich accompanying program taking in a wide variety of music clubs (putting on club nights and audio visual evenings), selected restaurants with film menus, concerts of film music, museums and exhibition halls with film programs, accompanying film-themed workshops, theater performances inspired by films, dance performances based on films and an exhibition marking the festival’s 25th anniversary. Viewers can relax after movies at venues such as Činoherní klub,Divadlo vŘeznické, Divadlo Ponec, Cross Club, Radost FX club, Klub FAMU, Museum Kampa, Grévin Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum, the Karel Zeman Museum and the NaFilM National Film Museum. They can also visit the Febio tent on Wenceslas Square, where films from the history of Czechoslovakia and Echo of Febiofest will be screened.
Charity partnerKapka naděje
The festival’s charity partner this year is Nadační fond Kapka naděje (Drop of Hope Endowment Fund). It was established by Vendula Svobodová Pizingerová in 2000 and since then has been engaged in charity work, primarily in the field of children’s hematology and oncology. At present Kapka naděje is helping more than 40 hospitals throughout the Czech Republic, for which it has to date secured over CZK 170 million. A special charity concert entitled Karel Svoboda 80 is being held during this year’s edition of the festival. It will take place at the Spanish Hall at Prague Castle on March 17th.
Cities and towns in which the festival is taking place:
PragueMarch 15th-23rd, 2018
České Budějovice March 26th-28th, 2018
Hradec Králové March 27th-29th, 2018
Plzeň March 28th-30th, 2018
Chomutov March 29th-30th, 2018
Děčín April 3rd-5th, 2018
Jihlava April 4th-6th, 2018
Pardubice April 5th-8th, 2018
Kladno April 6th-8th, 2018
Vsetín April 9th-11th, 2018
Mikulov April 10th-12th, 2018
Liberec April 11th-13th, 2018
Beroun April 12th-14th, 2018
Ostrava April 16th-18th, 2018
Brno April 17th-19th, 2018
Zlín April 18th-20th, 2018
Olomouc April 19th-21st, 2018
Press:
Gábina Vágner, t: +420 602 789 242,
Tereza Jiravová, t: +420 603 828 429,
Prague IFF - Febiofest, Růžová 13, Praha 110 00, Praha 1