The EKOFILM environmental film festival starts in precisely one week. The cinemas will be open to the public, but the accompanying program will take place live online
The 46th year of the EKOFILM international film festival with an environmental theme will start in exactly one week. Visitors can look forward to a series of attractive, in-depth films from all over the world from 14 to 17 October, while the majority of the accompanying program has been able to be preserved thanks to the internet. People will be able to log on to the opening discussion on the topic of Is Consumption Necessary? and to the other debates and lectures and the official opening on the websites or Facebook profiles of EKOFILM and the Ministry of the Environment. The broadcast will take place with the support of the MALL.TV internet television channel. The entry to the screenings is free of charge; just register online at www.ekofilm.cz/program/.
“We have deliberately set this topic for the opening discussion, so that economists, academics, politicians and people from business can comment on the topic of our consumption. The gradual transformation of our consumption has brought with it a number of challenges and opportunities and it is our goal to open a debate and offer inspiration as to where the path may lead. I would like to warmly invite everybody to the entire festival. Given that we are going to live stream the opening discussion and the rest of the accompanying program, I will be pleased if people from all across the republic accept this invitation and not only from Brno,” said Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec while inviting the public to attend this year’s event.
“I am very pleased that we will be able to welcome the participants in EKOFILM, of which we have long been a proud partner, to Brno this year despite the current safety measures. We are facing up to the issue of the environment in Brno and there are already a number of ongoing projects which are intended to help people reduce the impact of their consumption on the environment as much as possible. Given the ongoing changes in the climate, I acknowledge every effort aimed at educating the public and I wish the festival the best possible audience numbers,” said the Mayor of the City of Brno Markéta Vaňková.
Several places in the centre of Brno will function as festival stages. “We want the City of Brno to continue to be a pleasant place to live after 2030 and that is why we have implemented a number of adaptation measures that have impacted on the inhabitants of Brno and visitors to the city. We are aware of the responsibility we bear and so we have organised the #PrepareBrno campaign that summarises 10 basic steps to prepare our city for climate change. We are working on making Brno greener, more ecological and healthier. Brno has long supported EKOFILM, which deals with precisely these themes. This year, we have contributed 450 thousand koruna towards its organisation,“ added the First Deputy Mayor of Brno Petr Hladík.
The screenings will take place at the Scala university cinema and at the hall in the Social Centre of the Brno-střed Borough Authority. The non-competition films from the “Czechia Solves the Climate” cycle with the “sit down show” by the stand-up comic Adéla Elbel will be physically open to the participants at the Scala Chill Out Zone from 6 pm on Thursday 15 October. The same will also apply to the commented screening of non-competition films by the YouTuber and influencer Dewii entitled The Way to Sustainability is through the Stomach. This will take also place at the Scala Chill Out Zone from 6 pm on Saturday 17 October.
The (Un)bound Nature photographic workshop from the accompanying program will take place outdoors under the leadership of the festival jury member, director and photographer Jan E. Svatoš. The other part of the accompanying program that will not be transferred to the online environment is the Wild Animals (Není zvěř jako zvěř) exhibition. This will take place on Brno’s Moravia Square (Moravské náměstí) from 5 October and will end 25 October. Selected accompanying events will be live streamed on the websites and social networks of EKOFILM and the Ministry of the Environment and with the support of MALL.TV internet TV.
The 46th year of EKOFILM, the oldest European film festival with an ecological theme, will once again take place in Brno on 14 – 17 October 2020. Current information is available online at www.ekofilm.cz.
EKOFILM is held with financial support from the Statutory City of Brno.
7. 10. 2020