Skip to main content

Films screened at FI MU festival would not be out of place at KVIFF

“You will remember this” was the slogan of the 24th edition of the Faculty of Informatics festival, which also brought diverse experiences from the world of amateur films. The genres included drama, animation, documentary and comedy.

Team of FFFI

Friday the 17th of May was dedicated to film at the Faculty of Informatics of the Masaryk University. Thirteen short films competed for the hearts of the audience and the recognition of the expert jury. In addition, six non-competitive films were presented in the bonus block. The festival is a collective work of students of the Faculty of Informatics, who co-organise the event or directly participate in the creation of the films. “For us, the fact that the festival is being organised by the Faculty of Informatics is a way of combating stereotypes where computer scientists are portrayed as bespectacled men in dark rooms in the basement. I firmly believe that today will show that this is not the case,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics, Jiří Barnat, at the beginning of the event.

Some of the screened films were produced by students of the courses Basics of Film Discourse and Audiovisual Production, which are taught under the expert guidance of Robert Král and the supervision of the festival’s founder Petr Sojka. The even was organised by a student team centred around the Laboratory of Electronic and MultiMedia Applications (LEMMA). “While working on the festival, students will learn soft skills, communication and teamwork. They will also try out modern methods of project management,” said Dominik Hanák, the course supervisor, who also spoke about the organisation of the festival. “It is about coordinating all the student groups. Some work on visuals, some on technology, some on sponsorship. But the clear goal is to see the project through to the end and provide a nice experience for the audience,” he added.

“You will see many interesting films tonight,” promised the hosts. The short films were presented by their creators in a total of two blocks and one bonus block. After the second block, the audience was given the opportunity to vote using a QR code.

Third place in the audience rating went to Adriana Bendžalová’s animated black comedy V tomto domě zemřu (I Will Die in This House). The award was announced by Ivona Shafaq, a representative of the Bolek Polívka Theatre. “If these films had been shown at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), I would have slept through less of what was shown in the Hotel Thermal cinema hall. So thank you and keep creating,” she encouraged the young filmmakers.

The second place went to the makers of Anonymný Švédsky Obchod (Anonymous Swedish Shop), a comedy about friends who go to “a Swedish furniture and meatball shop” to find out if it is really haunted. The filmmakers have not ruled out a possible sequel.

The winner of the audience vote was announced by last year’s Jury Prize winners Sara Vašičková and Bára Zouharová. In first place, with a total of 429 votes, was the anecdote Před očima (Right Under Your Nose), starring Josef Prokeš as a university physics professor. The story was inspired by the true story of Professor Schauer.

The award ceremony was followed by the presentation of the jury prizes. “For the twenty-fourth time, this is the best edition in terms of quality – the bar continues to rise. The jury had a really hard job this year,” said Petr Sojka, announcing that Radek Barták’s documentary and experimental film Tripujem na chodníku (Trippin’ On The Sidewalk) won the third place.

Kristýna Bartošová, a member of the jury and a former festival participant, announced the second prize. The “silver medal” went to the only high school film, the social drama Pod osmnáct (Underage), for its outstanding acting, artistic and dramatic performance. Bartošová said that the experts praised the film from the Creative Hill College in Zlín for its complexity, excellent cinematography, acting and lighting.

The overall winner was announced by Kamila Zlatušková, founder of the Serial Killer festival, film producer and director, who also praised the festival for its constant improvement. The award went to the winner of the audience vote, V tomto domě zemřu (I Will Die in This House), for its great art design and the best possible end of the world.

„“It is an honour for me to thank you and to close this festival. I would like to thank everyone whose work has made this possible, especially the participants and the organisers,” said Petr Sojka.

The Short Film Festival was established in 2000 as a platform for the presentation of films made by Masaryk University students. However, five years ago it was opened to participants from outside the university. The participants are mainly high school and university students from art schools in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The event is organised under the auspices of the Laboratory of Electronic and Multimedia Applications (LEMMA) of the MU Faculty of Informatics, Dean Jiří Barnat and the Mayor of Brno Markéta Vaňková.

The author of this article is a student at the Faculty of Social Studies and a member of the student editorial board of M Magazine.