ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL Has Brought Czech Films to the The Golden Elephant Festival in India.

ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL has enjoyed considerable respect not only at home, but also abroad. The program organizers haven't been idle; they've been going abroad to visit other festivals since autumn. Their aim has not only been to select new films for the upcoming 54th ZFF and make new contacts, but also to present Zlín's festival, the Czech Republic and its cinema abroad. In the last four months Markéta Pášmová and Jaroslava Hynštová have visited five international festivals; the Kodomatachino Kinder Film Festival in Tokyo (Japan), the International Festival of Films for Children & Young Adults in Isfahan (Iran), the Schlingel - International Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences (Germany), and the Heart of Baikal international family and children's film festival in Irkutsk (Russia). The program organizers returned just a few days ago from a grand trip to India, where, to the credit of the ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL team, they managed to organize a Czech children's film retrospective for the program of the 18th International Children's Film Festival India, one of the largest children's film festivals in the world, which took place November 14 - 20 in the ancient city of Hyderabad.

The International Children's Film Festival India - The Golden Elephant introduces Indian children to other cultures and customs, provides them with quality film productions, and creates a creative and friendly environment conducive to the creation of further initiatives, inspiration and cooperation. Each year this festival is attended by more than 100,000 child moviegoers from 6 to 16 years of age,  primarily those from socially disadvantaged families. The Czech films were shown in the non-competition section Country Focus, which is one of the most popular parts of The Golden Elephant festival.

Included in the Czech Focus section were the films: Toys in the Attic (2009, directed by Jiří Barta), The Blue Tiger (2011, directed by Petr Oukropec), Lucky Four Serving the King (2013, directed by Michal Žabka), Goat Story 2 (2012, directed by Jan Tománek), Maharal (2006, directed by Pavel Jandourek), Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955, directed by Karel Zeman), Gentlemen, Boys (1975, directed by Věra Plívová-Šimková), The Little Mole in the City (1982, directed by Zdeněk Miler), Slip and Slap (1971, directed by Václav Bedřich), Razzokheil the Elf (1977, directed by Jiří P. Miška), The Smallest Elephant in the World (2013, directed by Libor Pixa).

Czech Focus was also supported by the attendance of our ambassador to India Mr.  Miloslav Stašek, who met with the Czech delegation.  Among others, one of the topics of the meeting was a planned project for Czech-Indian cultural cooperation prepared by the embassy of the Czech Republic in New Delhi. Goat Story 2 by director Jan Tománek competed for the main prize of the festival and the Czech Republic also had a representative in the international jury, whose member was the respected animator and director Jiří Barta.

"Two years ago there was a tentative proposal from the Indian side to organize a Czech Focus as part of the International Children's Film Festival India. Nothing happened for a long time until this August when people from the Children´s Film Society India again moved to renew our earlier proposal. There was not much time because the start of the festival was rapidly approaching. Putting together a quality film offering was relatively demanding because the movies had to comply with several criteria, e.g. English subtitles (which most of the older Czech films for children do not have), 35 mm copies or DCP, and no screening fee so that the festival could show them free of charge.  In the end, we prepared a selection of films from which the Indian party chose 7 feature films and 4 animated films.  Other entities have also been engaged in the project, including (among others) Czech TV, Negativ and Bio Illusion, who have given us their films to use," states the program director of ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL Markéta Pášmová.

"India, indeed, has quite a different culture and set of traditions, but it is great to see that Indian children really took to the Czech films much the same as Czech children, including Goat Story. The response to the screenings in the poorer quarters was overwhelming to an extent that's hardly imaginable here in Europe. A great amount of thanks is owed to the Zlín team for managing to carry off this exhibition of Czech children's films in India, because negotiating and "struggling" with the Indian mentality is sometimes quite demanding, put Jan Tománek, director film Goat Story 2, with a smile.

"I've never experienced such an enormous response to a Czech film as I did at a cinema on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It proves that making films for young moviegoers is worth it," added Miloš Šmídmajer, producer of the film Lucky Four Serving the King.

ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL secured and organized a delegation to accompany the Czech film screenings. In addition to the program director of ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL Markéta Pášmová and senior programmer Jaroslava Hynštová were Jiří Barta, Jan Tománek and Miloslav Šmídmajer.


Photogallery here.