In total 25 films from 14 countries compete for five EKOFILM awards

EKOFILM programmers led by Jitka Kotrlová selected 25 competition films out of 207 submissions. The festival jury will award the best films in the following sections: Beauty of Nature, Central European Films and Short Films. Every competition film is also eligible for one of the festival’s special awards: the Minister of the Environment’s Award for the Best Film and the Festival President’s Award. The 47 edition of the International Film Festival focusing on environment will take place from 20 to 23 October in Brno. The award ceremony will be held on Friday 22 October at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University. The festival theme reflected mainly in its accompanying programme is Green Architecture. 

„This year, the festival programme includes films focusing on long-term, topical and escalating ecological issues from all over the planet. I can mention for instance films about fires in Australia and California, films about jungle conservation, stories of indigenous people of Bolivia and Cambodia and their fight against big corporations and a look at expanding collections of extinct animals in museums. The common denominator of all competition films is their activism and concrete cases of people fighting to preserve their way of life and activities in harmony with nature. This year, the submissions included excellent films so we had to turn some of them down with a heavy heart, but we believe that the audience and the jury will appreciate our selection,” says Jitka Kotrlová, head of the festival programmers.

The strongest representation has Germany with five films and the Czech Republic and the Netherlands with three films each. The competition also includes two films from Belgium, Poland and Slovakia and one documentary from each of the following countries: Australia, France, India, Italy, Canada, USA, Spain and Great Britain. The awards come with prize money, this year, the jury will allocate 2 733 USD.

Majority of the screenings will traditionally take place at the University Cinema Scala which will also host discussions in its chill-out zone. Films we also be screened at the main hall of the Brno-centre Cultural Centre. With its non-film programme, the Faculty of Social Studies will play an important part, too, and the centre of the festival will be at the Freedom Square. In addition to competition films, the festival will also offer three non-competition films. The organisers also prepared virtual reality events, a performance by the band Brass Avenue, discussions, lectures, school programmes and a family day.

“EKOFILM has a very long tradition in Brno where it has lots of supporters. I am therefore glad that we are also a part of it and can support it by providing the hall of our town hall. This year’s festival theme, green architecture and smart city planning, is very topical and I recommend everyone to come and see some of the festival films. I definitely have my picks,” says Brno-centre Mayor Vojtěch Mencl and extends an invitation to the festival.