Programme 4/11:

1 pm–2 pm
Accreditation Opening
Pick up your accreditation with an opportunity to meet the festival team and learn the details of the coming festival days' programme first-hand.

Exhibition Opening: Cinematographers' Diaries
Excursions into the subconscious of film: prep shots, camera tests, experimentation, deleted scenes from contemporary award-winning Czech and Slovak films Heaven Above, Me in the Valley (cinematographer Tomáš Kotas), Holiday in the Czech Paradise (cinematographer Matěj Piňos), The Master (cinematographer Tomáš Uhlík), and The Thief (cinematographer and director Ondřej Hudeček) – cinematographers' diaries by their creators presented across four screens for the duration of the festival in the Studio.

6 pm
Doors – Meeting with Festival Team

6.30 pm
Official Festival Screening – Opening Ceremony

6.30 pm–7 pm
Welcome Address and Acknowledgements to all festival backers, featuring a brisk preview of this year's programme highlights.

7 pm–7.30 pm
Opening Screening – Short Film Plan contraplan

Plan contraplan / Shot Reverse Shot / Záběr protizáběr
Direction, Cinematography: Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă Romania, 2026 / 22 min / English friendly

In the years 1985–1987, American journalist Edward Serotta visited communist Romania. Fascinated by the harsh reality of that place and era, he captured its atmosphere through his lens. Unsurprisingly, the Romanian Secret Police, the Securitate, kept a close eye on him throughout his stay. Agents diligently followed his every step, photographing him as he took photos. 40 years later, Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă combined these two photo series. The result is a contrasting and comic portrait of a rather dark chapter in Eastern European history.

Jakub Felcman, Main Competition Programmer:

The latest short film by the leading figure of the Romanian New Wave, director Radu Jude, premiered at the recent Berlin International Film Festival. Although the film playfully depicts Romania at the end of the 1980s, it uniquely evokes the atmosphere of Ostrava just before the Velvet Revolution—an atmosphere we regularly revisit at the festival. We are presenting the film in its Czech premiere as part of the Main Competition.

Programme 5/11:

10.30 am–4.30 pm
INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

Obzory – Showcase of New Czech Short Films Created within Ostrava Kamera Oko
Czech Republic / 240 min. / English unfriendly

10 am
Doors – Meeting with Filmmakers

10.30–11.15 am
Obzory I.
New Films Zlín 2026

Showcase of short films made in Zlín by Czech film school students under the guidance of cinematographer Tomáš Šťastný. Screening will be attended by the filmmakers.
Commented programme, total duration 45 min.
INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

11.30 am–12.30 pm
Martin Gazda: The Use of AI in Cinematography Practice
Lecture in cooperation with Zlín Film Workshops and Rentalia/IS Produkce
INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

1–2.30 pm
Jana Surovcová Staňková: Filming in the Regions
Discussion on practical experiences from the past ten years of regional film offices and future outlook. Featuring film professionals and representatives of film offices.
In cooperation with MSK Film
INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

Obzory II.
Three Premieres by Established Filmmakers

3–3.30 pm
The Animal Remains / Zvíře nezmizí
Cinematography: Kryštof Kučera / Direction: Ivana Vongrinc Vigali / Czech Co-producer: Dagmar Sedláčková
Czech premiere / 23 min.

Mira and her loyal dog Baxus lead a quiet life in the countryside until one night they witness a shocking incident. After intervening in a sexual assault in the woods near their house, they are forced to face the consequences. Mira sets off on a journey that changes her fundamentally and where the boundaries between humanity and nature become irrevocably blurred.
Czech premiere of the latest short film by award-winning Czech producer Dagmar Sedláčková.

3.30–4 pm
While We Were Sleeping / Zatímco jsme spali
Cinematography: Kryštof Melka / Direction: Olmo Omerzu
Czech premiere / 17 min.

Czech premiere of the latest short film by renowned Slovenian-Czech director Olmo Omerzu, capturing a turning point between childhood and adulthood. Screening attended by the filmmakers.

4–4.30 pm
Raklo
Cinematography: David Hofmann / Direction: Petr Simon
Czech premiere / 18 min.

A raw and honest portrait of Ostrava’s subconscious, captured by renowned Czech cinematographer David Hofmann, who spent his childhood in the southern suburbs of Ostrava. Created with the support of the Statutory City of Ostrava and the Czech Audiovisual Fund, produced under the leadership of award-winning Czech producer Julie Žáčková.
Gala Czech premiere attended by the filmmakers.

Programme 6/11:

3 pm
INDUSTRY PROGRAMME
PITCH! Live Podcast – Foreign Co-productions by Cinematographers
Host: Juliána Silvie Kamas

6.30 pm
Obzory III.
Programmers: Tomáš Slunský and Jan Šimice

Cold Metal
Cinematography: Miguel Escudero / Direction: Clemente Castor
Mexico / 2025 / 105 min. / English friendly

Two young brothers live in the suburbs of Mexico City. Mario wakes up with no memories of his past life. Lost and helpless, he meets Lazaro, who teaches him how to enter other people's bodies through huge holes in the ground.

10 pm
Lights of Sound I. / Světla zvuku
Adam Badí Donoval
AV Evening: Ulla + Koruth

Programme 7/11:

Lights of Sound II. / Světla zvuku

10 am
Breakfast
Barbora Gábová + music: Adam Badí Donoval

11.30 am
Obzory IV.
Tycoon
Direction, Cinematography: Charlotte Zhang / Programmers: Tomáš Slunský and Jan Šimice USA, Canada / 2026 / 89 mi.n / English friendly

A provocative experimental work by Canadian artist Charlotte Zhang, offering a claustrophobic and sinister vision of Los Angeles on the brink of a social explosion. Narrated through an impressionistic sequence of events following a sudden disruption in the city's meat supply. Los Angeles, 2028. Just before the Summer Olympic Games. A virus attacking livestock destroys all meat and poultry supplies, while a cockroach infestation spreads across the city. It presents the perfect business opportunity as society is forced to find a new source of protein. Two young men, whom some might call petty thieves, come up with a plan while the cramped urban spaces around them both reveal and conceal an atmosphere filled with paranoia and quiet rage.

5 pm–6.10 pm
Obzory V. Profile Showcase of the Video—Multimedia—Performance and Concept—Object—Installation Studios of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava
A selection of film works from the VMP and KOI studios over the past three years.
Curator: Michal Kindernay
45 min.

Short Films by Members of the Festival's International Jury
Cinematographers—members of this year's international juries present their early short works.
25 min.

Total duration: 70 min.

6.30 pm
Obzory VI.
Chronovisor
Cinematography: Leo Zhang / Direction: Jack Auen, Kevin Walker / Programmers: Tomáš Slunský and Jan Šimice
USA / 2026 / 99 min. / English friendly

A detective story for readers in which the life of a reclusive academic intersects with a tale about a secret technology capable of capturing the past in a photograph.