| Profile |
 |
|
Zlín! For many, the town’s genius loci lies in its entrepreneurial spirit, its modern and dynamic character. However, things are different than they appear to be. The original inhabitants of the foothills of the hills of the Valašsko region have above all always been tenacious. The best-known of them – members of the Baťa family – were so tenacious and clever that they managed to create a worldwide shoe empire. Zlín – until then a small insignificant village – became the centre of their empire and grew into a pulsating, modern functionalist town. The Baťas were aware of the power of advertising and that is why they founded their own film studios. Another proof of their fascination with film, which was experiencing a real boom during the First Republic, was the building of the famous Velké kino (Grand Cinema) – at that time the largest screening venue in Central Europe. The proof of the fact that Zlín – a shoe metropolis – had also become a metropolis of film, came in the early 1940s. With a participation of true stars, the first Film Harvest – a presentation of numerous contemporary Czech films - was organized for the first time.
In the second half of the 20th century, the Zlín studios became famous thanks to their animated films and films for children and youth. The Zlín filmmakers, focusing on children, ranked among the world’s best. In the early 1960s, the town made its position even stronger by cleverly founding a film festival which, after being a national event for a few years, received an international status. The festival entered the times of freedom and free enterprise as a recognized institution and soon entered the elite club of cultural top events, supported by top representatives of both the public and private sector.
Zlín deserves to have a fixed place in the world calendar of film festivals. It belongs to a few prominent meeting places of not only films, but also film businessmen, filmmakers, journalists and of course those who are attracting film fans most – film stars! Especially in recent years, Zlín became a favourite resort of many famous faces – among those who accepted invitations to come to Zlín were Marléne Jobert, Pierre Brice, Herbert Lom, Gina Lollobrigida, Ornella Muti, Emmanuelle Béart, Roger Hanin, Ottfried Fischer, Sir Peter Ustinov, Oleg Tabakov, Tomy Wigand, Rock Demers, Alfonso Cuarón, Krzysztof Zanussi, János Bán, Michael a Pat York, Jürgen Heinrich, Alexander Mitta and other stars.
The main pillar of the festival is the internatioanal competition of feature and animated films for children and youth. The international competition of European debuts has been successfully running for several years and the latest additions to the festival programme included Zlínský pes (The Zlín Dog), a series of events for students of film. The competition of documentaries for youth, retrospective and informative sections or competition of feature films from the Visegrad countries have long ago become integral parts of the festival programme.
Every year, the festival is held under the auspices of the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, The Czech UNESCO Commission and the Czech UNICEF Committee.
The 45th festival was held from May 29 till June 4, 2005. Just like last year, the festival had a lot of new features. The festival offered its viewers 418 films from 43 countries. A total of 165 films competed in 6 competitive sections – feature films for children, feature films for youth, animated films, European debuts, student films, and films from Visegrad countries. A total of 9 juries judged the films, awarding 16 statutory prizes and awards. Out-of-competition sections, featuring 253 films, included Lifelong Achievement (Jiřina Bohdalová), Scandinavian and Baltic Cinematography Day, New Czech TV productions and films, Panorama, Documentaries, Swiss Film Forum, or DVD screenings.
During the 7 festival days, organizers prepared 34 supporting events in Zlín and in satellite towns in the Zlín Region, and the festival programme included 11 events for film professionals and general public.
Films were screened at 9 screening venues in Zlín and 8 in satellite towns and cities, which newly included Ostrava, Brno and Prague. Zlín was visited by children from over 60 schools and the number of accredited guests reached almost 2,000. Festival screenings and supporting events were attended by over 60,000 children and adults.
|
|
|
|
| Activities |
|
|
|
|
Festivals & Markets / Film Festivals
Awards
|
| |
|
|
