Febiofest

Febiofest is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and the second most prestigious festival in the country (after Karlovy Vary). The festival presents a wide spectrum of contemporary and retrospective examples of high-quality film including alternative, film-school and amateur works to a diverse viewing public.

The festival was founded in December 1993 in Prague by movie and television company Febiofest. The main personalities of the foundation were Fero Fenič and Pavel Melounek. Originally taking place in one city (Prague) in two small theaters, the event gradually grew (in just ten years) into more than 140,000 viewers in two countries, 12 cities and nearly 43 theaters. In 2005 the festival presented 336 films from 65 countries.

In 20 years, Febiofest has hosted directors and actors such as Nanni Moretti, Claude Lelouch, Geraldine Chaplin, Gaspar Noé, Peter Weir, Olivier Assayas, Roman Polanski, Volker Schloendorff, Isztvan Szabo, Tsai Ming-Liang, Tom Tykwer, Hal Hartley, Andrey Konchalovski, Armin Mueller Stahl, Nikita Mikhalkov, Carlos Saura or Claudia Cardinale.

Grand Prix of the festival is dedicated to debuting European filmmakers in New Europe section. Award started in 2008. The 33-member jury awarding the Grand Prix consists of applicants from 15 to 100 years old, to people of all education, social background, professions, and interests plus honorary chairman such as D.O.P. Miroslav Ondricek, architect Jan Kaplicky, artist David Cerny, conductor Libor Pesek, and former First Lady Dagmar Havlova.

Awarded Films:

2008 – Magnus (Kadri Kõusaar) 2009 – Snow (dir. Aida Begić) 2010 – The Children of Diyarbakir (dir. Miraz Bezar) 2011 – The Christening (dir. Marcin Wrona) 2012 – The Good Son (dir. Zaida Begroth) 2013 – Broken (dir. Rufus Norris)

Kristián Award for Contribution to the World Cinema was formerly given to personalities such as Roman Polanski, Helmut Berger, Richard Lester, Claudia Cardinale, Carlos Saura, Daniel Olbrychski, Otar Ioseliani, Wim Wenders and Mike Leigh.

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Wikipedia