| Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival | |
| Location: | Jihlava, Czech Republic |
| Awards: | Opus Bonum, Testimonies, Czech Joy, Short Joy, Fascinations |
| Founded: | 1997 |
| Number: | 376 in 2022 |
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Czech: Mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů Ji.hlava), known as MFDF Ji.hlava or Ji.hlava IDFF, is a documentary film festival in Jihlava, Czech Republic, normally held in late October. The 28th edition of the festival will run from 25 October to 3 November 2024.[1]
The festival was founded in 1997 by a group of Jihlava high school students led by Marek Hovorka, who has been the director of the festival since then. Since 2001, the festival has been organised by the Jihlava Association of Amateur Filmmakers, which in 2015 was renamed DOC.DREAM - the Association for the Support of Documentary Cinema.[2] Ji.hlava IDFF is a co-founder of Doc Alliance, a coalition of seven European documentary film festivals.
Over 86,000 people viewed films during the 2022 festival – more than 36,000 directly in cinemas and almost 50,000 online.[3] More than 1,000 film professionals took part in the Ji.hlava Industry Programme, which includes projects such as Emerging Producers, Festival Identity,[4] and Conference Fascinations.[5] In 2022, the festival presented 376 films.[6]
The main festival consists of 6 competition sections:
Aside from the main award, the jurors of Opus Bonum also hand out awards for the best cinematography, editing, sound design, outstanding formats such as the best film essay, best debut, and the best film from the region of Central and Eastern Europe (Between the Seas).
The festival annually nominates one film to be added to the pre-selection for the European Film Academy (EFA) award for Best Documentary Film of the Year. Also, the winners of the Short Joy award are eligible for the pre-selection for the Documentary Short Subject category of the Academy Awards.
| 2007 | 731: Two Versions of Hell | James T. Hong | China, United States, Taiwan | |
| 2008 | Iraqi Short Films | Mauro Andrizzi | Argentina | |
| 2009 | Bassidji | Tamadon Mehran | Iran, Switzerland, France | |
| 2010 | 48 | Susana de Sousa Dias | Portugal | |
| 2011 | Lost Land | Pierre-Yves Vanderweerd | Belgium | |
| 2012 | Kuichisan | Maiko Endo | Japan, United States | |
| 2013 | The Uprising | Peter Snowdon | Belgium, United Kingdom | |
| 2014 | I Am the People | Anna Roussillon | France | |
| 2015 | Dead Slow Ahead | Mauro Herce | Spain, France | |
| 2016 | Spectres are haunting Europe | Maria Kourkouta, Niki Giannari | France, Greece | |
| 2017 | The Wall | Dmitry Bogolubov | Russia | |
| 2018 | Vacancy | Alexandra Kandy Longuet | Belgium | |
| 2019 | Fonja | Lina Zacher and collective | ||
| 2020 | White on White | Viera Čákanyová | Slovakia, Czech Republic | |
| 2021 | Lines | Barbora Sliepková | Slovakia | |
| 2022 | 07:15 – Blackbird | Judith Auffray | France | |
| 2023 | Ship | Elvis Lenić | Croatia |
| 2003 | 66 Seasons | Peter Kerekes | Slovakia | |
| 2003 | Sentiment | Tomáš Hejtmánek | Czech Republic | |
| 2004 | The Ring | Angus Reid | Slovenia | |
| 2005 | Snail Fortress | Deszo Zsigmond | Hungary | |
| 2006 | All day together | Marcin Koszalka | Poland | |
| 2007 | Artel | Simon Semtov, Sergei Loznitsa | Russia | |
| 2008 | The Flower Bridge | Thomas Ciulei | Romania, Germany | |
| 2009 | Border | Jaroslav Vojtek | Slovakia | |
| 2010 | Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu | Andrei Ujica | Romania | |
| 2011 | Bakhmaro | Salomé Jashi | Georgia, Germany | |
| 2012 | Mirage | Srđan Keča | United Kingdom, Serbia | |
| 2013 | Winter / Miracle | Gustavo Beck, Zeljka Sukova | Croatia, Denmark, Brazil | |
| 2014 | We Come As Friends | Hubert Sauper | France, Austria | |
| 2015 | Under the Sun | Vitaly Mansky | Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, North Korea | |
| 2016 | The Dazzling Light of Sunset | Salomé Jashi | Georgia, Germany | |
| 2017 | Opera About Poland | Piotr Stasik | ||
| 2018 | Timebox | Nora Agapi | Romania | |
| 2019 | TEACH | Alex Brendea | Romania | |
| 2020 | Latvian Coyote | Ivars Zviedris | ||
| 2021 | You Are Ceaușescu to Me | Sebastian Mihăilescu | Romania | |
| 2022 | Deserters | Damir Markovina | Croatia | |
| 2023 | Distances | Matej Bobrik | Poland |
Alongside the competitions sections, the festival presents a number of non-competition sections covering different areas of documentary film. The regular non-competition sections are:
Another feature of the festival is its accompanying programme, comprising thematic exhibitions, awards for the best festival poster, music and theatre performances, authors' readings, radio documentaries and documentary theatre plays.
Ji.hlava IDFF organises various activities throughout the year. It works closely with six other European documentary film festivals through the Doc Alliance, and participated in DOC.STREAM projects for film professionals, Eastern European documentary East Silver Market, and, in collaboration with the Czech Institute of Documentary Film, the Ex Oriente Film project.
DOC.DREAM, the organiser of the festival, is also a publisher, and runs the online dok.revue portal, dedicated to theory and criticism of documentary film.
The Ji.hlava Industry Programme comprises events aimed at film professionals. The section includes:
Apart from the festival itself, which takes place in October, the Ji.hlava IDFF team organises various events at other times of the year:
Ji.hlava IDFF participates in a number of educational activities: