Febiofest 2003
From Thursday the 23rd to Friday the 31st of this month, the FEBIO film and television company will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Febiofest - an international film, television and video festival. Spectators in Prague will be able to visit over ten theatres to view over five hundred productions from about fifty countries. Tereza Brdeckova is one of the organisers of the festival:
In the ten years of the Febiofest's existence, the situation in the Czech Republic, as far as the access to movies is concerned, has naturally changed for the better and yet the festival continues to be enormously popular. This is simply because its goal has expanded from just a festival that introduces films to a festival that celebrates the cultures of different nations and focuses on the relations between film and the spectators.
"The Febiofest developed from a normal occasion to present good films to something like a festival of nations and cultures. We have ten cinemas in a multiplex in the historical centre of Prague and every theatre is orientated geographically. We have a southern cinema, an Asian cinema, a Nordic cinema, a European cinema. So, we can bring the right spectators to the right film. Not only Czech people go to see the films. You can really see that there are a lot of minorities living in Prague. There are many people from the former Yugoslavia, from Russia, but also from Latin America and southern Asia. These people really love to see films from their own countries, which are usually not possible to be seen here. So, you can come to different theatres and have a feeling that you are in a different country such as India or so and it's very nice."
Surprisingly, only some eight to ten people are involved in organising the Febiofest and getting the best and most interesting international films obviously calls for lots of time, effort, and money:
"Usually we start work during the Cannes film festival, which is in May. There, we try to choose some new films and see what films are happening in the world. We are also always looking for financial support for the next year. This is a problem because we have the festival at the beginning of the year and it's difficult to get the finances for the next year. But on the other hand, even though it is not practical, it is necessary to have something interesting in Prague and the Czech Republic in the winter. That is why we chose the end of January. We have been promised that financial support from the City of Prague and the Parliament of the Czech Republic would increase. Basically, it has not but we are still lucky because their financial support is a big help since for many years we only had private sponsors. Almost all of the cultural institutions from abroad, including embassies, the British Council, or the French Institute support us. So, it is logical to get some state support too because we do it for the people and do no profit from that."
Although the Febiofest is almost as popular as the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, it is not on the same international level and its organisers are not in direct contact with the producers. Most of the movies and documentaries screened get to Prague thanks to co-operation with the various cultural institutions and embassies that make it a priority to promote and introduce their culture through the world of film.
"It doesn't depend on the countries because what is wonderful today is that you have many fantastic people in the world who are capable of helping you get very good films. It depends on many aspects. You have many wonderful people at embassies who can create the programmes of their countries by themselves, whilst you can also have problems getting films from the USA, which you would think is easy. It depends on the organisation of the cinematography of the country. If the country is organised, such as the Scandinavian countries where there is the will to show something of their culture, it is very easy. But, of course, when you do this for a long time, you are attracted to the countries that are much more complicated. It is difficult, for example, to get films from the former Soviet Union, which is exactly the place where there are still a lot of very beautiful films made."
Last year, films were screened in some 15 theatres. However, due to the floods in August, the Febiofest lost two of them. But according to Mrs Brdeckova, the lower number of theatres makes it easier for spectators to get to all the screenings of their choice. So what exactly does the Febiofest have to offer this year?
"A programme that I am personally very proud of is made by the natives of northern America. Here, the US and Canadian embassies help us very much and we shall bring over five directors and Native American artists. There will also be a special performance by Native American musicians at the Ponrepo cinema accompanying the silent movie Red Skin. We also have a very beautiful Russian cinema. Russian films are extremely popular here because they were a part of the youth of my generation. We love the films of the Soviet era because they were usually very good. Also, there are a lot of Russians living here, so we have classical and also new Russian films in one theatre. Traditionally, we have a Scandinavian cinema, the cinema of the North, because their films are some of the most beautiful ones of Europe. But we also have many retrospectives of European classics as well as a retrospective of actor Alain Delon, many films from Latin America and we also have a very beautiful Asian cinema. Taiwanese film will be represented here for the first time because we had a lot of trouble getting films from this part of the world. There will also be a retrospective of a Chinese director and a very beautiful collection of Japanese film. They are all new films."
And they are all translated in order to get as many spectators as possible...
"Usually, of course, the films are in the original language but we try for all films to have English subtitles. The problem is that sometimes when the country is poor it is difficult to know in advance whether the films will be subtitled but they are all translated into Czech through earphones."
And if you are listening to us from Prague, Brno, Ostrava or Slovakia or should happen to be in the area during the days of the festival, visit the Febiofest website at www.febiofest.cz for more information.
