National Competition 1

For the past several years, the National Competition has presented audiences the best that domestic cinema has to offer. This year’s three blocks contain a total of fifteen films – live-action, documentary, and animated.

After three years, Sarah Lomen returns to Pragueshorts with the meditative documentary Amnion, a film about three generations of women brought together by shared pain and a soothing embrace. Terézia Halamová’s powerfully sensory and almost physical Dog and Wolf explores the fascinating world of the stripper Rudolf. Anything can happen in that hour when the night is ending but the day has yet to begin. An animated musical and melodrama in one, Bára Anna Stejskalová’s 9 Million Colors tells the unlikely story of love between a self-assured shrimp and a blind fish. Can two such different beings overcome their differences and stay together? The genre-defying What If We Run Out of Stones? introduces a similar sense of friendly playfulness to the program. Director Nora Štrbová shows that even minerals can be full of life. The selection of five films is rounded out by the Czech premiere of the wildly poetic animated short Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!, which only recently had its first screening at the Berlinale. For this film, Andrea Szelesová found inspiration from ancient mythology and Minoan frescos.

The three-member international jury will present an award for Best Czech Film, which comes with a financial reward of 2,000 euros. The jurors can also choose to present a Special Jury Mention.