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The 28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival starts in two weeks. The programme will offer more than three hundred films and includes a revealing retrospective of Swiss filmmaker Anne Marie Miéville and a showcase of award-winning Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang. The festival will be attended by director Kirsten Johnson, the author of this year's Ji.hlava festival trailer, among other guests are directors Roberto Minervini, Albert Serra and Andrei Ujică. The 28th IDFF Ji.hlava will take place on October 25 – November 3, lasting for the first time ten days.
This year, the Ji.hlava IDFF will offer 340 films in both competition and non-competition sections, of which 129 in the world premiere, 23 in the international premiere and 11 in the European premiere.
The 28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival starts in two weeks. The programme will offer more than three hundred films and includes a revealing retrospective of Swiss filmmaker Anne Marie Miéville and a showcase of award-winning Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang. The festival will be attended by director Kirsten Johnson, the author of this year's Ji.hlava festival trailer, and directors Roberto Minervini, Albert Serra and Andrei Ujică. The 28th IDFF Ji.hlava will take place on October 25 – November 3, lasting for the first time ten days.
This year, the Ji.hlava IDFF will offer 340 films in both competition and non-competition sections, of which 129 in the world premiere, 23 in the international premiere and 11 in the European premiere.
"The programme of Ji.hlava shows the extraordinary power of documentary film. Documentary filmmakers replace the literalness of reality with playfulness and originality of thought. They show us the world as we could hardly see it ourselves – unless, like them, we would like to spend long years with a camera in those places," says Marek Hovorka, the festival's director. "Dialogue has been important to Ji.hlava since its beginning, so of course the screenings will be followed by talks. I am delighted that the audience will be able to meet many filmmakers in person, including Kirsten Johnson, Tsai Ming-liang, Roberto Minervini, Andrei Ujică and Albert Serra."
Trailer of the 28th Ji.hlava directed by Kirsten Johnson
Each year, Ji.hlava invites one director to honour the festival with a festival trailer. After Jean-Luc Godard, Godfrey Reggio, Artavazd Peleshyan, this year's Ji.hlava spot was directed by American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. "Kirsten Johnson's trailer plays with Kafkaesque transformation on the border of life and death, dream and fantasy. She moves the scene from the family archive to an imaginative world, allowing for a different reading each time. The minute-long film becomes a poem that gets stuck in our heads like a memory of our ow
Multi award-winning documentarian Duncan Cowles will premiere his first feature-length project at Sheffield DocFest this summer. The film is called Silent Men and it explores the stigma and taboo surrounding male mental health in the UK. It’s a project that digs deep into our notions of masculinity and how such societal pressures hold men back from opening up about their emotions. What are the consequences of keeping them bottled up? And how does it feel to express these long-suppressed feelings and receive support? Today, Duncan explores how these questions – paired with his own desire to get better at being vulnerable – served as the starting point for this documentary. Read on to learn more about his experience doing group therapy at a men’s retreat; what he wants to achieve with Silent Men as well as the personal significance of making his short Outlets (2023), which won the prize for Best Editing at ASFF 2023.
ASFF: It’s exciting to hear that Silent Men, your first feature-length film, is set to premier at DocFest this summer! Could you give us an introduction to the film?
DC: Silent Men is a (hopefully moving and entertaining) journey through male mental health. It’s part road trip, part therapy as I travel across primarily Northern parts of the UK and ask men how they deal with their emotions. I think it explores aspects of masculinity that are often little discussed in an open and honest way. The film is underpinned by my deep personal motivation to get better at opening up to my family and loved ones since it’s something I’ve always struggled with and could feel myself getting worse at as I aged. So, we also see my own personal journey as the narrative of making the film itself plays out on screen.
ASFF: What sparked the idea for this project?
DC: I think a deep frustration and worry about my own uselessness at being able to open up and show my feelings to loved ones. Around the time that the idea came about (2016-ish), there was a bit of a surge of male mental health stuff in the UK. Lots of statistics were being flagged about men and mental health. For example, research shows that avoiding or hiding your emotions can be linked to dark outcomes, such as suicide, and that suicide was the biggest killer of men under the age of 50.
Around that time, I also became aware of how many people in my own life – or who I knew in some way – had battled with these things, and had also struggled with the same issues surrounding opening up. It frightened me just how bad the statistics with men were in the UK – and so I decided to do a film about it.
ASFF: Male mental health is at the heart of this documentary. How do you approach this topic?
DC: I think the stats and themes around male mental health are very uncomfortable for people to talk about. With that in mind, I was keen to make a film that felt accessible. I wanted it to contain a lot of humour in addition to the more serious moments. So, from the get-go I wanted this film to feel fun and like something you’d actually want to watch, rather than some doom-and-gloom documentary about mental health. That way, hopefully more people will see it and it will potentially make more of an impact.
ASFF: Could you share with us some of the themes that came up after interviewing men on this road trip? What are your reflections on the experience?
DC:
OFFICIAL SELECTION
By Charlotte Pavard, published on 15.05.2024
WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS © Compass Film
For the opening of the Un Certain Regard selection, the Debussy theatre welcomes the Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson with Ljósbrot (When the Light Breaks) : a subtle film about mourning and how to approach it, which was originally a short film.
What inspired you to begin work on this film?
Ever since experiencing the loss of a friend as a young man, I wanted to deal with the emotions I experienced the day it happened, by telling a universal story. Another recent loss in my life re-awoke that urge, and the storyline became more concrete.
My aim was to create a narrative or image that encompasses the complex feelings on a day of losing someone unexpectedly. Reality is altered and the future changes in an instant. The film takes that moment and expands it. It unfolds in a short period of time in which the space between contradicting emotions is narrow, when laughing turns into crying, and beauty coexists with sorrow.
Please describe your working method and the atmosphere on set.
I want my sets to be calm and focused. Everything should be as well prepared as possible. This kind of preparation ensures freedom the moment the camera rolls, but of course, not everything can be controlled beforehand.
In Iceland, we have to deal with all kinds of challenges, because we are on a remote island with a tiny population. Many things are not readily available, and we often have to rely on last-minute solutions to problems. On top of it, the weather is very unreliable, making outdoor filming something that has to be approached with an open mind. These challenges also mean that people are resilient and nimble to react. On set, this translates into quick and almost wordless interactions. My crew was small and everyone was tuned to the task at hand, enabling us to catch unexpected moments.
Please share a few words about your actors.
All the actors in our film are immensely talented and they were a great joy to work with. They kept the perfect balance between professionalism and playfulness, and they were extremely dedicated and hardworking. Our main actress, Elín Hall, can convey a wide variety of emotions with barely perceptible changes of expression. She embodied both the strength and tenderness I was looking for, and her ability to show rather than tell provided the essence for the character of Una. The ability to convey the unsaid is equally strong with both Katla Njálsdóttir and Mikael Kaaber, the actors supporting Una. Together they formed the kernel of intensity that propels the narrative without too much dialogue.
What did you learn during the course of making this film?
This film is my first project after the pandemic. After three years of relative solitude in which the story evolved and I was in close contact with only a handful of people, finally making the film was a joyful reminder of the energies that are released when working together with other people. I rediscovered that filmmaking is essentially a communal undertaking; it can’t be done alone.
What would you like people to remember from your film?
Una, our main character, is an outsider in the events that unfold around her, even though she is in fact at their center. Because of a secret she carries, she can’t claim the space she deserves in the grief that she experiences. Una has to make space for everyone else’s em
ATLANTA, GA (May 17, 2024) — The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) is proud to announce the award winners for the 2024 festival, which took place from Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024.
Today’s announcement recognizes filmmakers in 15 categories for their achievements and cinematic excellence. Winners of the Narrative Short, Animated Short and Documentary Short Jury Awards not only proudly took home their awards, but now also qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards®. Now in its fifth decade, ATLFF is one of only a handful of film festivals worldwide that is Academy Award-qualifying in all three categories (live-action short, animation short, and documentary short subject).
Most award winners were chosen by distinguished jurors from all backgrounds across the film industry. The Audience Awards were determined by in-person attendees.
This year, Michael Showalter, director of “The Idea of You” was presented with the Rebel Award. The Rebel Award honors someone who has shunned the typical industry expectations and paved their own path, in defiance of both norms and naysayers. This award is inspired by Atlantans who haven’t been afraid to break the mold, speak out and create change.
Additionally, Bill Duke, Director of “DEEP COVER” was honored with the Ossie Davis Award for Innovation in Filmmaking. Named in honor of one of Georgia’s most beloved and distinctive film talents, this award recognizes creative excellence and dynamic contributions to the art of cinema while also promoting human dignity and social justice.
With 118 countries represented in the selections, more than 24% of films had ties to Georgia filmmakers. The 142 total creative works from submissions featured diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world. Of the selections, 49% are directed by filmmakers who identify as female or non-binary, and 59% are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Eleven Marquee screenings combined Hollywood star power with the best of independent film.
Continuing with a hybrid model of in-person screenings and digital screenings, the 2024 event drew in over 20,000 total attendees. Over 16,000 people attended 153 screenings, panels, and events held primarily at The Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre with select events at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Fox Theatre and Fulton County Airport in addition to a variety of restaurants and bars across the city, during the 11-day festival. An additional nearly 4,000 people streamed screenings from ATLFF’s virtual catalog of 142 films and 13 virtual Creative Conference workshops, panels, or Masterclasses.
With over a dozen of the in-person screenings selling out, the virtual presentation of the film catalog also proved to be a success. More than three months’ worth of content was streamed during the festival, with viewers in 32 U.S. states, and 10 countries across four inhabited continents.
A full list of jury members with brief biographies is included below, as well as film information for all award winners and honorable mentions.
The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference took place from April 25 - May 5, 2024. ATLFF is currently accepting submissions for the 49th annual festival, which is confirmed to take place April 24 - May 4, 2025.
More information can be found at https://www.atlantafilmfestival.com/submit.
2024 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS
SPECIAL AWARDS
The Rebel Award:
Presented ToWinner: Michael Showalter, Director of “The Idea of You”
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