March 3, 2025

.The films screened at the European Film Days traditionally compete in two categories, best debut and best musical cinema. The festival's dramaturg Šimon Šafránek took care of their selection and the nomination. The winners are then decided by a different jury for each section, consisting of film and music experts and the previous year's winners.

We have two juries this year, too, and we will now introduce their composition...

JURY OF THE BEST DEBUT COMPETITION

The five Antonie Formanová (film, theatre and puppet actress), Joanna Łapińska, (artistic director of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia), Katalin Moldovai (Hungarian director and winner of the 31st DEF with the film Breathless), Jiří Konečný (film producer of award-winning films) and Pavel Sladký (film critic and cultural journalist), told us about themselves and their relationship with European cinema...

How do you recognize a European film? What is your favourite European film, director or debut?

AF: Lately, I have been increasingly fascinated by the work of Yorgos Lanthimos. I enjoy his poetics of storytelling and the world, which is mostly somewhat distorted but also perfectly describes our real one. But I can't, and I don't want to, give an example of just one country, one film, just one name...just as I like to travel, I also watch films and don't perceive other worlds through the screen. For example, I admire French elegance, southern liveliness and courage, and lately, I've been enjoying Nordic films quite a bit, both because of the language, which is somehow interestingly arrhythmic and elusive to me, but also because of the landscape that never ceases to fascinate me, and the acting, whose rawness almost always makes me freeze. (example: Booze, Forever). JL: That's such a broad topic! So maybe I'll try to say what I value about European cinema. I like how uncompromising it can be, from Radu Jude's Don't Expect Anything Good From the End of the World to Johan Grimonprez's Soundtrack to the Coup d'état. I love the precision of European films, e.g. Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, their charm, which I found in Alice Rohrwacher's Chimera and their wildness that pulsates in Goran Stolevsky's Beginner's Guide to Housekeeping. And I admire their power to create worlds beyond borders, as does Magnus von Horn's The Needle Girl - a story set 100 years ago in Copenhagen by a Swedish director based in Warsaw. And don't even get me started on the classics.

KM: In terms of style, story, and psychological depth, I like films that reflect the society we live in, that reflect the current state of man. It's hard to name everything I like; there are so many, but I would choose, for example, On the Other Side of the Hills (2012) by Cristian Mungiu or On Body and Soul (2012) by Ildikó Enyedi. I was also touched by Cecilia Felméri's film debut Spiral.

JK: In terms of language and places where it takes place, as well as atmosphere and culture, My favourite European film of recent times is KIX - directed by Dávid Mikulán & Bálint Révész, from older films, for example, Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Meierová.

PS: The best European debuts of recent years have been by László Nemes, Rose Glass or Damian Kocur. Many films and authorial voices exist, such as Anatomy of a Fall, Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers, Béla Tarr, Michelangelo Frammartino, etc. Europe has a very diverse film DNA.

JURY OF THE BEST MUSIC FILM COMPETITION

The trio Jana Kománková (journalist and radio presenter), Anežka Horová (multimedia artist, director and photographer) and Milan Cais (singer, drummer, composer, lyricist, artist and producer) answered the question:

What or who have you been listening to the most lately and why? The best musical film or music video ever?

JK: I listen alternately to strange, mumbling melancholic people, gifted weirdos and dead people, and in recent weeks, I've been especially listening to Durutti Column, Cloud Ice 9, Nyxotype, Moin and Porridge Radio. Movies and clips: It changes; I really liked the films Brother, Where Are You, The Clash: Westway to the World, Amy, Control and Non-Stop Party; I will probably have long-term impressions of Kneecap, but also of the recently seen documentary about Joan Baez. Clips? Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart, Siouxsie & The Banshees - Il est né le divin enfant, The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey, and I'm sure I've forgotten some of the best ones.

AH: Lately, I've often listened to music that makes me dance but, at the same time, carries melancholy and deep emotions that fill me. It's Mac Miller's new posthumous album - Balloonerism, Alligator Bites Never Heal by Doechia, and I combine it with some older music like Sade. I'm often attracted to an artist's overall visual aesthetic - for example, Rosalía, Carly Gibert, Willow and Audrey Nuna. But if I had to mention one specific clip, it would be Uneventful Days by Beck. I always wish it would never end – and it could easily be made into a feature film.

MC: Nilüfer Yanya - a young English singer-songwriter with Turkish roots and an unmistakable voice. Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads) - Jonathan Demme.

We know the juries and the films, too, so now we're just curious how it will turn out... Do you have a tip?