INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
„This competition is unique in its diversity of formats and filmmaker approaches. The variety of topics and storytelling is opening up options for presenting scientific research and communicating science, which is an opportunity for everyone who seeks inspiration and new points of view regardless of age or life experience,“says film programmer Kristýna Dytrychová.
- Adonis (dir. Jérémie Battaglia, Canada, 2024)
- Animal Pride (dir. Rio Mitchell, Canada, 2024)
- Anthropocene, the Undeniable Truth (dir. Cédric Defert, France)
- Apple Cider Vinegar (dir. Sofie Benoot, Belgium, 2024)
- Birdsong (dir. Kathleen Harris, Ireland, 2024)
- Burkitt (dir. Éanna Mac Cana, UK, 2024)
- Butterfly Journey (dir. Paul Phelan, USA, 2024)
- Doppelgängers³ (dir. Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, UK, 2023)
- Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite (dir. Lorenzo Hagerman, Mexico)
- Flyways: The Untold Journey of Migratory Shorebirds (dir. Randall Wood, Australia, 2023)
- Human Race (dir. Simon David de-Tusch Lec, Denmark, 2025)
- Into the Heart of Pain (dir. Marc Wolfensberger, Marcel Schüpbach, Switzerland, 2023)
- John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office (dir. Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens, USA, 2025)
- Light Darkness Light (dir. Landon van Soest, USA, 2024)
- Lost for Words (dir. Hannah Papacek-Harper, UK, 2024)
- My Want of You Partakes of Me (dir. Sasha Litvintseva, Beny Wagner, UK, 2024)
- Observer (dir. Ian Cheney, USA, 2025)
- Sally (dir. Cristina Costantini, USA, 2025)
- Shelf Life (dir. Ian Cheney, Robyn Metcalf, USA, 2024)
- Starman (dir. Robert Stone, USA, 2024)
- The Forest (dir. Jamie Lochhead, UK, 2024)
- The Sun (dir. Fabian Korbinian Wolf, Germany, 2024)
- Tracing Light (dir. Thomas Riedelsheimer, Germany, 2024)
- Turtle Walker (dir. Taira Malaney, India, 2024)
- What We Talk About When We Talk About Music (dir. Mats Andersen, Norway, 2024)
CZECH & SLOVAK COMPETITION
“The Czech & Slovak Competition reflects the diversity of the film medium in the context of the contemporary approach to documentary filmmaking. This year’s selection introduces traditional AFO topics, concerned with the issue of addictive substances and the research of historical phenomena, as well as a critical analysis in the areas of justice, true crime and motives connecting social and natural environments. Generationally diverse filmmakers contribute to the complexity of popularising scientific insight through their work and debuts. The documentary film here is in a position of both an experiment and an observer, reacting to events in Czech and Slovak society,” says festival programmer Karolina Matějková about the section.
- Because of Bear (Medvěd, dir. Miro Remo, CZ, Slovakia, 2024)
- City as a Laboratory of Change (Město jako laboratoř změny, dir. Amálie Kovářová, CZ, 2024)
- Czech Scientists in Antarctica (Čeští vědci v Antarktidě, dir. Petr Horký, CZ, 2024)
- Czechoslovak Architecture 58–89 (Architektura ČSSR 58–89, didir. Jan Zajíček, CZ, 2024)
- Doctor on a Trip (Doktor na tripu, dir. David Čálek, CZ, 2025)
- Chronicle of a Happy Childhood (Kronika šťastného dětství, dir. Kateřina Kořínková Sobotková, Šárka Loukotová a Adéla Klingohrová, CZ, 2024)
- Land of Dan Bárta (Krajina Dana Bárty, dir. Zdeněk Suchý, CZ, 2024)
- Lapilli (dir. Paula Ďurinová, Slovakia, 2024)
- Lichens are the Way (Lišejníky, dir. Ondřej Vavrečka, CZ, 2024)
- Scent Evidence (Pachová stopa, dir. Zuzana Piussi, CZ, 2024)
- Stone Axe Path (Cesta kamene, dir. Tomáš Kratochvíl, CZ, 2025)
- The Kratom Collectors (Sběratelé kratomu, dir. Libor Cinegr, CZ, 2024)
- Wild Polana – Wolves from Polana (Divoká Poľana – Vlci z Polany, dir. Rastislav Dobrovodský, Slovakia, 2024)
- Your Child (Vaše dítě, dir. Andrea Sedláčková, CZ, 2024)
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
“The Short Film Competition offers insight into various areas of research and visual expression in five thematic blocks, where everyone will find something to like. In the very best of international and also Czech and Slovak work, he audience will take part in observing the universe as well as microscopic organisms, they will visit animals in both gardens and computers, discover no longer existing islands, walk across glaciers and face the impact of climate change. The varied scale of topics is matched by the form in which playful aesthetics and styles combining the craft of cinematography, animation and archival footage meet,” festival programmer Magdaléna Jedličková in her description of the section.
- Accidental Animals (dir. Leila Fatima Keita, Felix Klee, Germany, 2024)
- Arctic Ice: Under The Midnight Sun (dir. Michelle Sanders, UK, 2024)
- Autism Plays Itself (dir. Janet Blake Harbord, UK, 2023)
- Bioshorts – Regeneration Tricks (dir. Daniela Hýbnerová, CZ, 2024)
- Black Tide (dir. Kim Yip Tong, France, 2024)
- Decoding Ancestral Knowledge (dir. Ruth Lichtman, Sharon Shattuck, USA, 2024)
- Dream to Cure Water (dir. Ciril Jazbec, Slovakia, 2023)
- Eyes Eyes Baby (dir. Charlotte Rodenstedt, Sweden, 2024)
- Habbal et al. (dir. Sean Paulsen, Brad Wickham, USA, 2024)
- Iron Cow (dir. Barbora Aradská, CZ, 2024)
- Moonshot Mission (dir. Sara Kolster, Netherlands, 2024)
- Moving Mountains (dir. Renko Douze, Netherlands, 2023)
- Nittaituq (dir. Camille Poirier, Mathilde Poirier, Flore Sergeant, Canada, 2023)
- Seeing Fungi (dir. Mateo Barrenengoa, Chile, 2024)
- Testerep (dir. Vincent Langouche, Belgium, 2024)
- The Art of Looking (dir. Andris Gauja, Estonia, 2024)
- The Bird in My Backyard (dir. Ryan Wilkes, Canada, 2024)
- The Conquest of Space (dir. Albin Biblom, Sweden, 2024)
- Twig (dir. Claire Sanford, Canada, 2024)
- Wetlands – Life Blood (dir. Matt Jarvis, UK, 2024)
IMMERSIVE MEDIA COMPETITION
“The new competition section reflects the growing importance of immersive technologies. We will connect art, science and social interaction. The visitors will delve into virtual worlds with the help of headsets and will become, for instance, a part of a collective experiment in genetics or an individual simulation of feelings of a person suffering from a specific illness,” explains festival programmer Dominik Vontor.
- Soul Paint (dir. Sarah Ticho, Niki Smit, UK, Netherlands 2024)
- Mammary Mountain (dir. Tara Baoth Mooney, Camille C. Baker, Maf’j Alvarez, UK, Ireland, 2024)
- Age of The Monster (dir. Benjamin Nuel, France, 2024)
- Wilfred Buck’s Star Stories (dir. Lisa Jackson, The Macronauts USA, 2025)
- Drinking Brecht (dir. Sister Sylvester, USA, 2024)
- Turbulence: Jamais Vu (dir. Ben Joseph Andrews, Emma Roberts, Australia, 2023)
- Emperor (dir. Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen, France, Germany, 2023)
