Academia Film Olomouc (53)

Festival start: 24 April 2018      Festival end: 29 April 2018

AFO is currently one of the most important European festivals in the area of popular science film. It aims to present science as an attractive, dynamic and diverse sector through films charting natural, humanities and social science disciplines. Each year, hundreds of documentary films and television programs enroll in the competition sections of the festival. Traditionally, renowned stations such as BBC, Discovery Channel or National Geographic submit their films. In past years, the festival introduced for example Albert Barillé, the creator of the legendary cycle series Once Upon a Time... Life; Jeff Lieberman, host of Time Warp, an American popular show; Martha Holmes, exclusive producer of the BBC series Life; a world-renowned biologist Steve Jones; renowned populariser of science and medicine, Lord Robert Winston, popular British biologist and BBC associate Nigel Marven, executive producer of CBC series The Nature of Things Sue Dando or theoretical physicist and atheist activist Lawrence M. Krauss. The festival takes place in April in Olomouc. It originated in 1966.

Science film is a unique category of documentary film, an important field of cinema, that represents a substantial part of contemporary television broadcasting. AFO´s active programming seeks significant works in Czech and world science cinema, and present them to general as well as academic public. It focuses not only on current productions, but reviews, and revives the history of the genre in special program sections. Each year, a dominant topic brings together films and guests from all over the world, presenting science as a thrilling adventure.

What is a science documentary film for AFO? Science documentary films present the results of systematic observation and exploration of the world in us and around us. Films focused on scientists as professionals or personalities are also considered as science documentary films. The main theme of the film may also become science itself as an institution and a firm part of our society, including its ethical boundaries, methods and procedures.

*** INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION ***
- films produced outside the Czech Republic

Recent winners:
2017 Lake Vostok (Russia, r. Ekaterina Eremenko)
2016 La Glace et le Ciel (France, dir. Luc Jacquet)
2015 The Joy of Logic (Great Britain, dir. Catherine Gale)
2014 More Than Honey (Switzerland/Germany/Austria, dir. Markus Imhoof)
2013 The Grammar of Happiness (Australia, dir. Michael O'Neill, Randall Wood)

*** CZECH & SLOVAK COMPETITION ***
- films produced in the Czech Republic and/or Slovakia

Recent winners:
2017 One Step Towards the Absolute: The Hunt for Parkinson's
2016 Chronicle of Kings (dir. Roman Vavra)
2015 Suppressed Letters (dir. Tomas Kudrna)
2014 Whose Is My Child? (dir. Marek Duda, Radim Prochazka)
2013 In Focus (dir. Kamila Zlatuskova)

*** SHORT FILM COMPETITION ***
- films produced outside the Czech Republic with a maximum running time of 30 minutes

Recent winners:
2017 Below 0° (Costa Rica, dir. Itai Hagage, Jonathan Gomez)
2016 When AIDS Was Funny (USA, dir. Scott Calonico)
2015 Supercomputers (Spain, dir. Fernando Cucchietti)
2014 Mesiaciky (Slovakia, dir. Diana Fabianova)

The festival accepts science films from all over the world, and of any length. The submission of a film is free of charge. The film can be submitted only by the holder of audiovisual fixation rights to the film in terms of § 80 of the Act No. 121/2000 Coll. on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright and on the Amendment of Certain Laws (Copyright Act), as amended, required for festival presentation (producer, distributor, sales, or director).

In case of series, one episode or the whole series can be submitted. The festival reserves a right to select one episode of the submitted series for the competition.

Submitted films/series must be produced after January 1, 2016.

The deadline for submission is December 31, 2017.

By submitting the film, the applicant gives consent to a possible screening of the film in the competition held within AFO 2018.

A screener copy of the film must be received by January 8, 2018. We accept screener copies on DVDs, Blu-rays, or sent via data storages with the possibility to download the screener (e.g. We Transfer; copy must be available for download at least 7 days and eventual password must be attached). The address for screener DVDs or Blu-rays is:

Academia Film Olomouc
Univerzitni 3
771 47 Olomouc
Czech Republic

The submitted film must be either in English or have English subtitles.

Due to a large number of submissions, screener media will not be returned. By submitting the film in the competition held within Academia Film Olomouc, the applicant transfers free of charge the ownership of to the tangible medium containing the screener copy of the film to the organizers.

All submitted films will automatically become part of the Doc. Port video library. The Doc. Port video library is part of the festival, open to guests, film professionals and accredited visitors during the festival in intangible electronic form.