Our picks from the programme #5: The star of cosmology, vulnerable personal documentaries and foreign music projects.

Is there an archive that could withstand the destructive power of time? This question is the focus of the film The Arc of Oblivion starting at 12:30 PM at the Metropol Cinema. You will also meet the director and screenwriter Ian Cheney and the American cosmologist Chris Impey.

 The combination of fragility and nature will take your breath away at the Na Cucky Theatre at 4 PM. Smile and Wave is a film essay about a biologist whose interest in nature led her to common heart urchins and her own father. The film will be introduced by its director Eva Charlotte Nilsen.

 Trans* people will meet with caregivers in the debate Hopeful Developments and Woes of the Czech Care System for Trans* Persons at 4:30 PM in the Corpus Christi Chapel. People’s knowledge of trans* identity and experience has come very far, largely thanks to the trans* people and their knowledge of themselves. The reality is Czech law is still very far from what it should respect in this sense, namely protecting human rights and basic human dignity. The debaters are Kateř Tureček, Karel Pavlica, Pavel Turčan and Jiří Procházka, hosted by trans* activist and YouTuber Lenka Králová.    

The Hollywood 306 film deals with what meaning things have after a person dies and if they still possess the spark of life. This story about searching and coming to terms with a loved one’s passing starts in the Theatre Hall at 8:30 PM.

 We would also like to invite you to the highlight of this year’s programme on the On Lemon Stage. The Norwegian duo Smerz will be visiting the Czech Republic for the first time, introducing their blend of chamber music with classical music, hip hop, RnB, or contemporary club music. A noticeable name of the contemporary alternative music scene, Berlin Manson, will also be visiting the AFO festival. The French duo Baraka are also newcomers to our country. They base their music on genres like trance and trip-hop, honouring the dance music of the 90s. DJ NCOL from Prague will be the last up on this year’s Music is Science programme. She is one of the most prominent names in the music industry today and will bless the dance floor with a carefully chosen array from different electronic genres. We are throwing a dance-the-night-away party at the new Underground Club with DJs JVNZ and count2count from the city of Brno.

 We still have more in stock for Sunday! We will be screening each of the films that won this year’s competitions, so you can look forward to the best of the best.

 The film March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step is not only geared towards children. The sequel to the Oscar winning March of the Penguins will return to the beautiful landscapes of Antarctica. The story of a small emperor penguin trying to get to sea shows important life events of these amazing creatures. You can catch our last pick at the Metropol Cinema at 9 AM.

 We are still not done and AFO will continue through echoes for two more weeks on the dafilms.cz website.