Dispatch from Jihlava
by Will Tizard
The Jihlava docu fest, held every October in this southern Czech forest town, is a refreshing blast of energy and old-fashioned hippie charm. Housed in the DKO, a pre-Velvet Revolution abbreviation for the House of Culture and Recreation (every Czech town, it seems, has such a hulking communist-era community center), the Jihlava fest gets better every year, drawing docu makers and scouts from around the world.
I got roped into leading a discussion on the experimental films of German auteur Andreas Wutz and the Canadian master of the genre, Mike Hoolboom, last night (it was a pleasure, of course, though I was only drafted at breakfast). Auds got into the haunting images of Prague in Wutz’s “Nightwalk” and “Embassy Morning” and then Hoolboom”s brilliant tribute to his mentor, the video-as-art pioneer Colin Campbell, “Fascination.” Directors often shared their visions and manifestos here: Czech helmers Radim Prochazka (“Desk-based Assassination”) and Miloslav Novak (“Peace with Seals”) presented their work yesterday, as did Martin Dusek and Ondrej Provaznik, makers of the fascinating exploration of Czech bordertown life “A Town Called Hermitage.”
Romania's Ileana Stanculescu (“Village of Socks”) described a town from another century, while Russian helmers Susanna Baranzhieva, Vitaly Mansky and Alexander Rastorguev, who chronicled extremes of Black Sea vacation decadence in “Tender Heat, Wild Wild Beach,” didn’t make it here as planned, alas. But such amazingly diverse international work keeps this fest on the map of the rapidly heating up docu world. The East Silver market and pitching sessions run by Prague's Institute for Documentary Film, meanwhile, offer an glimpse of pics now ripe for sales and distrib as the weeks wraps Oct. 28.
Plus, they sell roasted chestnuts and potatoes on the DKO steps! What more could you hope for, I ask?
The Jihlava docu fest, held every October in this southern Czech forest town, is a refreshing blast of energy and old-fashioned hippie charm. Housed in the DKO, a pre-Velvet Revolution abbreviation for the House of Culture and Recreation (every Czech town, it seems, has such a hulking communist-era community center), the Jihlava fest gets better every year, drawing docu makers and scouts from around the world. I got roped into leading a discussion on the experimental films of German auteur Andreas Wutz and the Canadian master of the genre, Mike Hoolboom, last night (it was a pleasure, of course, though I was only drafted at breakfast). Auds got into the haunting images of Prague in Wutz’s “Nightwalk” and “Embassy Morning” and then Hoolboom”s brilliant tribute to his mentor, the video-as-art pioneer Colin Campbell, “Fascination.” Directors often shared their visions and manifestos here: Czech helmers Radim Prochazka (“Desk-based Assassination”) and Miloslav Novak (“Peace with Seals”) presented their work yesterday, as did Martin Dusek and Ondrej Provaznik, makers of the fascinating exploration of Czech bordertown life “A Town Called Hermitage.” Romania's Ileana Stanculescu (“Village of Socks”) described a town from another century, while Russian helmers Susanna Baranzhieva, Vitaly Mansky and Alexander Rastorguev, who chronicled extremes of Black Sea vacation decadence in “Tender Heat, Wild Wild Beach,” didn’t make it here as planned, alas. But such amazingly diverse international work keeps this fest on the map of the rapidly heating up docu world. The East Silver market and pitching sessions run by Prague's Institute for Documentary Film, meanwhile, offer an glimpse of pics now ripe for sales and distrib as the weeks wraps Oct. 28. Plus, they sell roasted chestnuts and potatoes on the DKO steps! What more could you hope for, I ask?
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
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