The 28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, set to take place from 25 October to 3 November 2024, has announced its first titles and retrospectives. This year’s festival will open with the world premiere of Ms. President, a time-lapse documentary directed by Slovak filmmaker Marek Šulík. The film chronicles the five-year tenure of Slovakia’s first female president, Zuzana Čaputová.
Beyond the opening film, the festival boasts a wide-ranging program that includes new international documentaries, retrospectives, and experimental works. Among the entries is Slovak director Peter Kerekes’ Wishing on a Star, a documentary comedy that delves into the world of astrology.
The festival’s Czech Joy competition will feature War Correspondent by Benjamin Tuček and David Čálek, a powerful documentary about Czech Radio journalist Martin Dorazín’s experiences covering the war in Ukraine.
Ji.hlava will also present a number of retrospectives. One of the most retrospectives, We Have Our Film! Images of the Slovak State, will showcase nearly 25 films from the wartime period of the Slovak state (1939–1947). This critical exploration of Slovak cinema will encourage viewers to engage with the complexities of Slovak statehood and its relationship with fascism.
Another highly anticipated retrospective will celebrate the work of Czech directors Vít Klusák and Filip Remunda, best known for their 2004 film Czech Dream. This satirical documentary, which exposed the absurdity of consumer culture through the staged opening of a fake hypermarket, will be screened in a digitally remastered version for its 20th anniversary. The retrospective will also include other notable works by the duo, such as Steam on the River (2015), The White World According to Daliborek (2017), and Matrix AB (2015).
In addition to these highlights, Ji.hlava’s 10-day program will feature a unique exploration of the intersection of technology and film with the Computing Film retrospective. This section will delve into the history of artificial intelligence and its role in film, showcasing pioneering works by artists such as Lilian Schwartz and Steina and Woody Vasulka.
The festival’s virtual reality (VR) section will continue to push the boundaries of immersive documentary storytelling. Among the featured works is Christian Zipfel’s The Lost Time, which follows a Holocaust survivor on his journey to find his family members, and Shadowtime, which uses VR animation to explore the effects of climate change on human migration.
The industry program, Ji.hlava Industry Days, will bring together over 1,000 film professionals and expand its focus to include East and Southeast Asia, offering new opportunities for European and Asian filmmakers to connect.
