Documentary Films - Competition
Sections of 50th KVIFF
- Official Selection - Competition
- Official Selection - Out of Competition
- East of the West - Competition
- Forum of Independents - Competition
- Documentary Films - Competition
- Special Events
- Horizons
- Another View
- Imagina
- Variety Critics’ Choice
- Midnight Screenings
- Czech Films 2014–2015
- Documentary Films - Out of Competition
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Tribute to Larisa Shepitko
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A Week of Lebanese Cinema
- Six Close Encounters
- Out of the Past
- Future Frames: Ten New Filmmakers To Follow
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Prague Short Film Festival Presents
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Amerika
Amerika /
Amerika
Directed by: Jan Foukal
Czech Republic, 2015, 70 min
The story of an unusual journey or a staged piece of contemplation? However we perceive this tale of a couple wandering through the Czech countryside, we can best experience it by yielding to the calm tempo of their journey through the shady woods. Amerika isn’t a portrait of specific individuals but rather a probe into the Czech phenomenon of “tramping.”
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Cats in Riga
Kočky v Rize /
Cats in Riga
Directed by: Jon Bang Carlsen
Latvia, 2014, 17 min
While the news media sift through current affairs and the inhabitants of Riga focus on their daily cares, cats are completely occupied by their aimless wanderings through stairways, offices, and apartments, sublimely indifferent to the preposterous hustle and bustle of our civilization. This ingenious and playful para-documentary investigates the role of subjectivity in the perception of the world around us.
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The Father Tapes
Otec /
Vaterfilm
Directed by: Albert Meisl
Austria, 2015, 78 min
When Albert Meisl began to suspect that his father was writing the final chapter of his life, he decided to visit his parents with a movie camera in tow. This harrowing documentary deliberately suppresses any estheticization of the hopeless situation, thereby placing us in the role of disinterested observers of their sorrowful parting.
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Game Over
Game Over /
Game Over
Directed by: Alba Sotorra
Spain, Germany, 2015, 78 min
Djalal has loved weapons since before he could walk. But success in the virtual world, where thousands of followers watch his videos, is not enough – so he heads to Afghanistan as a sniper. Unfortunately, actual war is a dull business that drags on endlessly. Will the young man, who is still searching for his place in the real world, realize that the game is over and that it’s time to grow up?
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Horizons
Horizonty /
Horizontes
Directed by: Eileen Hofer
Switzerland, 2015, 70 min
A dance school in Havana. Ballet means everything to adolescent Amanda, experienced Viengsay, and renowned local legend Alicia Alonso. The contours of the characters intermingle as three portraits flow into one: a single female destiny presented in three forms. A documentary of commitment and passion for ballet that become a metaphor for the lack of freedom suffered by the inhabitants of the island nation.
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I Am Belfast
Já jsem Belfast /
I Am Belfast
Directed by: Mark Cousins
United Kingdom, 2015, 84 min
“I met a woman. She said that she is Belfast, the city in Northern Ireland where I grew up. The woman said that she’s as old as the city,” states Mark Cousins at the beginning of his meditative dialogue with the personification of Belfast. This cinematic essay abandons the parameters of classic documentary language, asking us to perceive the film as a magical-realist mix of reality, dreams, myths, and local storytelling.
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IEC Long
IEC Long /
IEC Long
Directed by: João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata
Portugal, 2014, 30 min
Macao, the former Portuguese colony on Chinese soil, was known as a center of fireworks production. The IEC Long factory, the last monument to the area's industrial past, today lies in ruins. The half-hour documentary captures the eerie silence and starkness of a place that for decades belched out products guaranteed to provide explosive fun.
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Kacey Mottet Klein, Birth of an Actor
Kacey Mottet Klein, zrození herce /
Kacey Mottet Klein, naissance d’un acteur
Directed by: Ursula Meier
Switzerland, 2015, 14 min
How does a child become an actor? And how does the acting profession influence his or her relationship to the world? In Ursula Meier’s documentary teenage Kacey Mottet Klein answers these very questions. Following the road from the playground to the film set, the film presents a study of how mind and body mature before the camera lens.
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The Living Fire
Živoucí oheň /
Zhyva vatra
Directed by: Ostap Kostyuk
Ukraine, 2014, 80 min
The snow is starting to melt and spring has announced its arrival. Three Carpathian shepherds, just like their fathers and grandfathers before them, set off with their flock into the mountains on a lonely journey lasting several months. A nostalgic, mystery-tinged essay about an ancient profession that unbridled civilization may soon swallow up.
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Mallory
Mallory /
Mallory
Directed by: Helena Třeštíková
Czech Republic, 2015, 97 min
Life hasn’t been easy on Mallory but after the birth of her son she tries desperately to kick her drug habit, and to stop living on the street. She wants to turn her back on her dark past and help those she knows best – people on the fringes of society. In her latest long-term documentary, Helena Třeštíková demonstrates that even seemingly hopeless lives needn’t be cut short halfway.
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Once Upon a Dream – A Journey to the Last Spaghetti Western
Tenkrát ve snu: Cesta za posledním spaghetti westernem /
Once Upon a Dream – A Journey to the Last Spaghetti Western
Directed by: Tonislav Hristov
Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, 2015, 60 min
It’s not so long since they shot one cult film after another in the Andalusian town of Tabernas. But the fame of the movie stars has since faded and the charm of the place evaporated in the face of the economic crisis. When word gets out about the production of a new blockbuster, the eyes of the local inhabitants shine with hope. A humorous documentary fairy tale about a life reminiscent of an endless Hollywood movie.
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Palio
Palio /
Palio
Directed by: Cosima Spender
United Kingdom, Italy, 2015, 90 min
The oldest and most famous palio – a rough-and-tumble bareback horserace – takes place twice yearly in the heart of Siena. The race not only requires riding skills but also a healthy dose of behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing. Who will come out on top – legendary jockey Gigi Bruschelli or his gifted former trainee Giovanni Atzeni? The answer lies in this gripping docudrama, in which emotion, movement, and gesture are pared down to their most crystalline form.
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Resort
Resort /
Resort
Directed by: Martin Hrubý
Czech Republic, 2015, 25 min
In the 1960s an architecturally unique resort built on the banks of Orlík reservoir became the secret getaway of the communist establishment, then later passed into the hands of notorious businessmen during the early days of unrestrained capitalism. Suffused with an air of mystery, this portrait captures the genius loci and turbulent history of a hidden summer paradise that was left off every map.
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White Death
Bílá smrt /
Muerta Blanca
Directed by: Roberto Collío
Chile, 2014, 17 min
Using a variety of formats and animation techniques, a story unfolds before our eyes of a Chilean military company trapped in the snow during a cruel Andean storm. Yet the film doesn’t aim to provide a faithful reconstruction of events but rather to investigate the boundless solitude and blistering cold that bores down to the bone when a person stands on the threshold of white death.
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Women in Sink
Ženy v umyvadle /
Women in Sink
Directed by: Iris Zaki
United Kingdom, Israel, 2015, 30 min
It’s packed at Fifi’s beauty salon in Haifa. As is normal in such a place, the women are quick to enter into conversation. The young director takes advantage of the situation, allowing her customers to air their opinions on the coexistence of Arabs and Jews as she washes their hair, while also offering a more general look at politics, history, love, and life.
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23 Kilometres
23 kilometrů /
23 Kilometres
Directed by: Noura Kevorkian
Canada, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, 2015, 82 min
Suffering from an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease, Barkev Kevorkian spends his time recalling the past when he worked at a foundry, loved driving fast, and enjoyed time with his little girl. In this courageous documentary essay, the Lebanese-born director contemplates all the things a serious illness takes from your life.