If you’re not able to get to the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival this week, you can catch up on a season of short films at home. Films from the Short Joy category are streaming for free on the Doc Alliance website from 22 to 28 October to coincide with the festival.
Czechfilm.co.uk will be reporting from the festival. One of the highlights is retrospective on Alberto Cavalcanti, Brazilian born director and producer famous for his contributions to the GPO Film Unit and Ealing Studios. The use of a documentary style in post war Ealing films set the scene for the films of the British New Wave in the 50s and 60s.
Of course we’ll take the opportunity to review new Czech documentaries and others that catch our eye. There’s a selection of documentaries from North Korea, and a programme of Communist era Czechoslovakian documentaries about North Korea. The Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei is featured in the film Never Sorry.Tariq Ali will talk about subjects that are not covered by documentary film.Three members of the Ukrainian activist movement FEMEN will be at the Inspriration Forum.
Last year they wrapped the Prior supermarket that sits in Masaryskovo Námesti, the main square. This year it looks like the square will be filled with a maze. In the meantime here’s a postcard from 1987 of Jihlava, including Prior and Masaryskovo Námesti and a rather lovely yellow Škoda 110R
