Ji.hlava
Not only it was a comeback for me to Ji.hlava, but it was also a return to good old times. In many ways. A quiet city (or town) with old style shops, different prices than the ones in big cities, wine shops with a handwritten blackboard outside in the street saying merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon etc. And a step back to the seventies with a tent in front of the main cinema with food to buy, I got a nice bowl of curry potato from a young lad who looked like George Harrison in his Indian period.
But Ji.hlva also wanted to be “modern” and the EA Business Hotel, where I stayed was with no atmosphere, no character. Twenty years ago, when the training program Ex Oriente was here, we stayed in a small pension with the local Zoo and a church as neighbours. Cosy, four or five breakfast choices, where the Business hotel had a lot, standard for that kind of hotels. The times they are a changing…
But not the pitching format. As in Copenhagen, at CPH:DOX, the Ji.hlava Forum, where I was one of the jurors, took place in a big hall with a lot of audience, in Copenhagen the Forum is in the Royal Theatre. It was followed, like in Copenhagen and at many other festivals and markets, by individual meetings. The filmmakers I met were happy about the way it was arranged.
Impressed about how many industry guests were in Ji.hlava. And young filmmakers including Emerging Producers. Thank you for the invitation.
