By Ryan Keating-Lambert
The 13th annual Prague Shorts will take place from the 17th – 21st of January in Kino Světozor and Kino Pilotů. For the first time, include a Czech short film competition.
The short film festival, a sister event of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, will screen almost 100 different short films from all over the world. Sections this year include both some old faithful categories and exciting new ones.
On top of the four International Competition sections, you can also catch the Stink Films section with shorts from the award-winning London production company started by Czech producer Daniel Bergmann (also a guest speaker on the night). There’s also the Pragueshorts for Kids section (in Kino Aero and Bio OKO) – handpicked by kids themselves, the Black Mirror-ish #FOLLOWME section dedicated to the dizzying highs and lows of social media and modern technology, the EFA 2017 section devoted to the best of the best of the European Film Awards from last year, and the insanely fun Brutal Relax Show – always a winner and hosted by Czech actress Simona Babčáková.
In addition to the festival’s extraordinary and international line-up, Prague Shorts is proud to introduce a Czech short film National competition section this year due to popular demand. “Although Czech short films continue to be made primarily at film schools, they are slowly beginning to be produced through what one might call regular channels. They are eligible for financing from the Czech Film Fund, they can win a Czech Lion and – as we recently saw after a long break – they can even win an Oscar,” said programming director Karel Spěšný referring to last year’s Who’s Who in Mycology by student director Marie Dvořáková.
An international jury of film theorists and industry professionals will announce the competition winners on Sunday the 21st of January. All films will be English friendly. For tickets, cinema details and full programme, visit the official website.
Feature photo: Downside Up – Prague Shorts
Movie Barf 