Press Release No. 1

16. 9. 2009

Prague, September 16th, 2009

The 35th Annual IFF Ekofilm begins in less than three weeks

The 35th annual International Film Festival on the Environment and Natural and Cultural Heritage – Ekofilm 2009 will take place from the 5th to the 11th of October, 2009, in České Budějovice and Český Krumlov. Some of the festival‘s events will be held in Třeboň and the Ekofilm Cinemabus will stop in selected Southern Bohemian towns. This year’s main theme is climate change and its implications. The host of the 35th Ekofilm festival will again be Jaroslav Dušek.

So far a record number of films have been submitted for the IFF Ekofilm competition – 225 films from 40 countries of the world, 69 of which come from the Czech Republic. Films have been submitted by filmmakers from Armenia, France, Italy, Madagascar, Hungary, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Russia, Slovakia, the USA and other countries.

53 selected films have been accepted for the competition, which will be judged by a six-member international jury composed of: documentary filmmaker Alena Činčerová, architect Vlado Milunić, director Michael Havas, director Ilja Ruppeldt (New Zealand), director Steve Lichtag and dramaturgist Jacgues Génot (France).

All of the submitted films will be available to viewers on request for the duration of the festival in the Kotva movie theatre and the Town Theatre in Český Krumlov. After the end of the festival, selected films from the festival archive at the Ministry of the Environment may be borrowed for non-commercial purposes, such as the festival showcase ‘Echoes of Ekofilmu’.

The festival will take place from the 5th to the 8th of October in České Budějovice mainly in the Kotva movie theatre and at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia. Some of the events will be held in other locations (see the festival program). On Friday, October 9th, the festival will move to Český Krumlov, where it will continue until Sunday, October 11th in the Town Theatre, the J&K movie theatre and the halls of the Prelature. Information booths will be located at the registration centres in the Kotva movie theatre in České Budějovice and the Town Theatre in Český Krumlov. Just as in previous years, in addition to the competition films, Ekofilm will also screen other interesting movies, hold seminars and meetings with Czech and foreign guests, as well as exhibits, concerts and other accompanying events.

This year’s 35th annual Ekofilm has a few new surprises in store for visitors. The first is the festival’s new logo together with its new design, including the look of its website. The changes in the graphics are the work of Věra Marešová (www.vgrafik.cz), the winner of the competition for the new logo and graphic design of Ekofilm. Other good news is that this year Ekofilm will screen films for schools in the Cinemabus, which will travel to places out of the reach of the main festival activities from October 5th to 9th. The Cinemabus can fit 35 people inside. There will be film screenings and discussions with primary and secondary school students divided according to age groups.

One of the new accompanying events of the festival will be held on Sunday, October 4th. The climate road-show of the Partnership Foundation will come to Třeboň and will use a number of interactive elements in order to give the public, and especially children, more information about the reasons and consequences of climate change and the ways we can prepare for its impacts. Part of the event will be the mobile exhibit ‘The Tree of the Year’ accompanied by an artistic competition. On Tuesday the road-show will move to České Budějovice.

On October 5th, Hnutí DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) will publicly present their ambitious and original campaign ‘The Great Challenge’, aimed at pushing through new legislation to support investment into effective modern technologies, in several locations in České Budějovice (on the square, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Kotva movie theatre).

The last bit of news is the new venue of festival activities in České Budějovice. On Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th there will be film screenings, autograph signings and talks with filmmakers and festival guests in the cafe of the Kanzelsberger bookstore.

The official opening night of Ekofilm will take place on the evening of Monday, October 5th, in the Kotva movie theatre, but accompanying events will held throughout the day: a bike ride; a discussion at the Faculty of Natural Sciences with the Minister of the Environment Ladislav Mik on protecting the Southern Bohemian environment; the opening of the exhibit ‘Climate Trail’; planting trees on the grounds of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemian; introducing the ‘Energy Globe Award’ project and a concert featuring the bands Propaganja and Fadzitulikistulan in the Salt-House. The opening film this year will be the English film ‘The Age of Stupid’ by the director Franny Armstrong, who was nominated for an Oscar last year (www.ageofstupid.net).

Besides the record number of films, viewers shouldn’t miss the outstanding selection of accompanying events. Along with the opening day events, one of the most exciting will be Tuesday’s (October 6th) performance by the Little Tree School for families and children, in which Iveta Dušková and Petra Bílková will perform. The performance will take place in the České Budějovice Salt-House. Both actresses will return to the Salt-House on Wednesday (October 7th) in the school play ‘Frog and Toad’ for the 1st and 2nd grades. On Friday, October 9th, a performance of the Four Agreements, or Love – Relationships – Friendship, as seen by the Toltec shaman Don Miguel Ruizin will be given in the Town Theatre in Český Krumlov. Jaroslav Dušek will perform the leading role, alongside Zdeněk Konopásek and Pjér La Šéz. On Saturday, October 10th, the now traditional 30 year old meeting of Czech filmmakers will take place in the J&K movie theatre in Český Krumlov. This year the film ‘Postřižiny’ has been chosen. After the viewing and a discussion with the actors and film crew, the ‘Environmentally Friendly Product’ award will be given. The festival program also contains several concerts. On Friday, October 9th, Swetja a spol will perform in the Antré theatre cafe and the band Neřež will perform on October 10th at the ceremonial announcement of the results of the Ekofilm competition  and again later in the Antré cafe.

The specialist program at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia has been created in cooperation with the students of the Faculty. From the 5th to the 8th of October there will be screenings combined with seminars and discussions. On Monday, October 5th the previously mentioned discussion with the Minister of the Environment will take place. Then on Tuesday, October 6th, a panel discussion about Šumava will be held and on Wednesday, October 7th, the topic of the discussion will be foreign development projects. On Thursday, October 8th, the Countryside workshop will take place.

Also not to be missed are the audiovisual seminar by the musical journalist Pavel Klusák called ‘The Concert in the Laboratory’ (October 6th), the State Environmental Fund workshop about the Operational Program on the Environment (October 8th) and the introduction of the series ‘Ecopioneers’. These events will take place in the cafe of the Kotva movie theatre.

A specialized seminar on the main theme of the festival – climate change – will be held in Český Krumlov. A session of the international association of environmental film festivals on the environment ECOMOVe International, of which Ekofilm — the oldest European film festival of its kind — is a member, will also be held there.

A favourite addition to the festival is the photography exhibits. The Kotva movie theatre will house an exhibit of Václav Vašků’s photographs entitled ‘The Faces of Uranium’, there will be two exhibits at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia : ‘Climate Trail’ and ‘Nice Climate’. ‘Green Bridges of Europe – Our National Parks’ is the title of an exhibit that will be installed in the Town Theatre in Český Krumlov  at the same time as the exhibit of Jiří Kučera’s photographs from the making of the film   ‘Postřižiny’. Finally the Fíďa Gallery in Český Krumlov will host an exhibit called ‘Conservation of Nature and the Countryside in the Czech Republic — A Fairytale House’.

Rudolf Šmíd has already presented his photographs of scarecrows in previous years of Ekofilm. This year he will introduce festival participants to terriculology, a new science devoted to the study of scarecrows, which he has been studying for 16 years. A presentation will be held in the cafe of the Kotva movie theatre (October 8th).

The ceremonial closing event during which the prizes will be awarded will take place on the evening of Saturday, October 10th, again in the Town Theatre. Jaroslav Dušek will be hosting the event.

All of the festival programs are open to the public. Admission to all Ekofilm events is free with the exception of the theatre performances, which will be free, however, for registered participants.

The registration centre will be open from Monday, October 5th, in České Budějovice in the Kotva movie theatre and on Friday, October 9th, from 9:00 it will move to the Town Theatre in Český Krumlov.

To find out everything about the festival, please visit www.ekofilm.cz.

Ekofilm would not be possible without its financial and media partners, for whose support we are extremely grateful.

Partners: State Environmental Fund; EU Operational Program on the Environment; Severočeské doly. a.s.; E.on Česká republika, s.r.o.; Pöyry Environment a.s.; Toyota Motor Czech, s.r.o.; Aston environmental services; Veskom, s.r.o.; Cyklo Jiřička; Michlovský, s.r.o.; Barx Energy s.r.o.; R&B Mědílek, s.r.o. Main Media Partner: Czech Television Media Partners: Czech Radio; Czech Radio ČB; New Vision Media; Deník; Živa; Student Agency Festival Supporters: Ministry of the Environment; South Bohemian Region; the towns of České Budějovice and Český Krumlov Thank you for your cooperation: Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia; Kotva movie theatre; town Theatre Český Krumlov; ECOMOVE International; WWF; Partnership Foundation; Kanzelsberger a.s. bookstore; Hnutí Duha Organizer: Ministry of the Environment and the Ekofilm civic association Co-organizer: South Bohemian Region; the towns of České Budějovice and Český Krumlov; Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia

Festival President: Professor of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Charles University  in Prague Pavel Kovář Patronage: Governor of the South Bohemian Region; Minister of Culture; Minister for Regional Development; Minister of Education, Youth and Sports; Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Agriculture  and the Czech Committee for UNESCO

Contacts: Veronika Dušková, spokesperson of Ekofilm, ekofilm.veronika@seznam.cz, 775 144 603; Jitka Radová, festival dramaturgist, jitka.radova@mzp.cz, 267 122 432, 602 617 371; Barbora Pečová, head of PR and communications at the Ministry of the Environment, barbora.pecova@mzp.cz, 267 122 294, 602 658 891; Jan Fischer, producer and project coordinator, os-ekofilm@volny.cz, 602 225 808; Mgr. Lucie Medková, PR, marketing, ekofilm.lucie@seznam.cz, 603 759 360; Martina Matěnová, program coordinator at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia, ekofilm09@seznam.cz, 721 975 046