By Kathryn Hume

One scary thing that happens at the start of autumn is that the festival season begins to wind down. But this month two great film festivals will take place, one in Prague and one in Jihlava.
The Music on Film Film on Music (MOFFOM) Festival is returning for its fourth year and will take place in cinemas in the center of Prague from 18 - 22 October. The program is bursting with music- related films, and an exciting support program includes live concerts, photo exhibitions, panel discussions, workshops and parties. 

This year’s country focus is on Russia, and includes a dance party with DJ Yuriy Gurzhy of Berlin’s legendary Russendisko club nights.. Improvisational composer Fred Frith is this year’s guest of honor, while two favorites from MOFFOMs past make a welcome return: Julien Temple, best known for his films about the Sex Pistols, returns to present his new Clash-frontman biopic Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten. Also of interest to Clash fans is the return of Don Letts: the punk/reggae auteur, film-maker and original Clash tour DJ is back with a new documentary about P-funk god George Clinton. 

The new film Once, starring Glen Hansard of Irish rock band The Frames and Czech singer/actress Marketa Irglová, was a runaway hit at this year’s Sundance Festival, scooping the World Cinema Audience Award for drama.  As well as the Czech premiere, MOFFOM is also hosting a live acoustic concert by Hansard and Irglová.

There are more than 60 documentary and feature films in the festival, plus many more music videos, shorts and experimental projects.  All films will be shown in their original language with both Czech and English subtitles where necessary, so there's no excuse not to catch at least one.  For more info, see www.moffom.org

Entering its 11th year in 2007, the International Documentary Film Festival Jihlava, receives some 350 submissions from more than 24 countries each year. The festival will take place from 24th – 28th October in Jihlava, on the main D1 highway between Prague and Brno.  It’s easily accessible by car and public transport: bus and train connections can be found at www.idos.cz, but you may have to change trains to get to Jihlava. The main Festival Centre is in the DKO building at 2 Tolstého Street.
The festival program comprises three competitions: Opus Bonum is open to innovative world documentaries of high aesthetic quality, Between the Seas presents films from six Central European countries, and Czech Joy surveys the latest in Czech filmmaking. New to the 2007 festival is a digital library of documentary films from Eastern Europe. Over 370 completed films and trailers for upcoming titles from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, will be available for viewing. For more info, see www.dokument-festival.cz

Tina B, the Prague Contemporary Art Festival, has been running since the start of September. On October 3 a multimedia performance by Magdalena Jetelová, Kurt Gebauer and Jan Vlček took place on Letná hill. Also shown live on a big screen in Václavské náměstí, the compelling light, sound and smoke show, which might be interpreted as depicting female genitalia, could be seen and heard from far across the river. Tina B is still running, and over the next few months will have installations at the Eco-technical Museum in Prague 6, Lapidarium at the expo area at Holesovice, and the Vernon Gallery in Prague 7. For more info, see www.tina-b.com.
Maybe autumn’s not so scary after all...
 

Average user rating

   (0 vote)