Festival Tips #1: What’s in store for you on the first day of AFO?

23. 4. 2024

The 59th AFO is about to begin, and we’ve curated a fully packed schedule for you with various interesting events. Whether you crave films, lectures, or workshops, there’s plenty to choose from. If you need help deciding what to see, don’t worry, we’re here to guide you. We give you just one of the possible ways to spend your first festival day to give you a taste of the rich programme our dramaturgical team has prepared.

One of the ways to begin the festival is to watch a film from the International Competition. Taste: We Eat What We Are is a journey through time and food. Starting at 11 a.m. at the Metropol Cinema, it will offer a deep insight into the historical human need to consume and discover how this need affects us and the world around us. Following up with a taste of Czech cinematography, you can enjoy a screening of Identity: State and Propaganda at 1:30 p.m. at the Film Hall (Konvikt) as part of the Science on Czech Television series. The creators reflect on the ideological meaning of the symbols that create our national identity. They use them to explore the formation of our country’s visual identity.

From the film Taste: We Eat What We Are

Switch it up from films and enjoy one of the lectures, forming another essential part of the festival programme. For example, try the fascinating talk entitled Jindřich Matoušek: AI-Enhanced Speech Synthesis: Making of Karel Gott’s Digital Voice Signature at 2:30 p.m. at the Theatre Hall. Using an example, cybernetician Jindřich Matoušek demonstrates the current possibilities of human speech synthesis. How long will it take for an AI-generated voice to be indistinguishable from a real person? Once the lecture concludes, you can run straight over to the Regional Museum, which will host the live podcast Leonardo Plus: The Secrets of Microbiome in Primates and Humans at 5 p.m. The Czech Radio Plus science podcast focuses on various fields of scientific research and on science popularization to the public.

Get ready to kick off the festival in style at the Metropol Cinema at 7 p.m. for the grand festival opening, followed by the screening of Fungi: Web of Life 3D. This visually stunning time-lapse footage in 3D will transport you into the mysterious yet intriguing world of fungi. If you’re looking for an alternative, join us at the Film Hall at 6:30 p.m. for Ivo Bystřičan’s new documentary series Czechs on Drugs. Six fifteen-minute episodes will present a thought-provoking analysis of the perception of drugs in Czech society.

!Disclaimer!

Identity: State and Propaganda; Jindřich Matoušek: AI-Enhanced Speech Synthesis: Making of Karel Gott’s Digital Voice Signature; Leonardo Plus: The Secrets of Microbiome in Primates and Humans are not english friendly. 

Information on whether a programme block is english friendly can be found on the program.afo.cz website.