After this year’s edition of the largest film gathering in the Czech capital, planned for late March, had to be shut down, the physical 27^th edition of the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest is now set to start on 18 September. While the organisers have voiced a number of concerns about the current situation, as new cases of coronavirus have been increasing rapidly, the pared-down line-up short on international guests that had originally been announced (see the news) will kick off with the avant-premiere of the documentary Karel (see the news), about internationally recognised Czech crooner Karel Gott, who passed away last year. The film was directed by Olga Malířová Špátová.

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Five titles will be vying for the top prize in the main competition: the Andrea Bræin Hovig- and Stellan Skarsgård-led Hope [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Maria Sødahl
scheda film] by Maria Sødahl; Pietro Marcello’s adaptation of the Jack London novel Martin Eden [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pietro Marcello
scheda film], set during an unspecified period in Italian history; the feature debut by Amjad Abu Alala, You Will Die At 20 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Amjad Abu Alala
scheda film]; Ivan Ostrochovský’s period drama Servants [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ivan Ostrochovský
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intervista: Mariusz Wilczyński
scheda film]. A brand-new competition strand has been added under the new artistic leadership of the festival (see the news) by programme directors Marta Švecová and Nikolaj Nikitin, called Comedy Competition. Benoît Forgeard’s kitchen-appliance-starring slacker comedy All About Yves [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benoît Forgeard
scheda film] will thus lock horns with Lisa Aschan’s crazy comedy about mothers and daughters, Call Mom! [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Evin Ahmad
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scheda film] by Sebastian Borensztein and the Slovak tragicomic love story Loli Paradicka [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marka Staviarska
scheda film], which turned out to be the dark horse among the 2019 crop of Slovakian film productions (see the news).

Central and Eastern European cinema will be showcased in the new Eastern Delights section, including Mira Fornay’s experimental drama Cook F**k Kill [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mira Fornay
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intervista: Tudor Giurgiu
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intervista: Jurgis Matulevičius
scheda film], while the Panorama section will widen its geographical scope, introducing local audiences to Rúnar Rúnarsson’s kaleidoscopic portrait of modern society, Echo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rúnar Rúnarsson
scheda film], Haifaa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Haifaa al-Mansour
scheda film] and Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. Among the other sections in the programme structure are Queer Now, Docs, Generation, Girls in Film, Festival Focus: Busan, a Max Ophüls retrospective and TV Now. The latest film by Pavel Göbl, the absurd tragicomedy Silent Companion [+leggi anche:
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The Czech branch of Amnesty International will hand out an Award for the Best Human Rights Film, with Fornay’s Cook F**k Kill, Samuel Kishi Leopo’s Los Lobos, Ray Yeung’s Suk Suk, Suwon Shin’s Light for the Youth, Mahnaz Mohammadi’s Son-Mother [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and Carlo Sironi’s Sole [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carlo Sironi
scheda film] all in the running.

After a portion of the planned industry programme unfolded virtually in late March – namely, Czech Works in Progress (see the report) and Girls in Film Works in Progress (see the report) – the remainder of the industry section will take place on one day, which will be dedicated to the topic of Czech films in international markets.

Wary of the current situation, programme director Marta Švecová revealed at the press conference that the team is planning the festival in a hybrid form, offering all competition titles for online viewing. The gathering is also planning to commemorate Oscar-winning Czech director Jiří Menzel, who passed away on 5 September.

The 27^th edition of the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest will take place from 18-25 September, and the full line-up is available here.