On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Prague’s film school FAMU, the 32nd edition of the IFF ART FILM Košice International Film Festival (19 – 25 June 2026) will present a special programme of eight short films. The selection was curated by Czech film historians and theoreticians and covers the full eighty years of FAMU production – from the 1950s to the present.
The short-film programme offers a representative cross-section of the work produced at Prague’s film school over its eighty-year history. The eight films capture the diversity of student production: fiction, documentary and animated films are all represented, including lesser-known titles as well as internationally acclaimed works (one of which won a Student Academy Award). The range stretches from pantomime farce and historical drama through mystification documentary to animated fantasy. The selection includes early works by filmmakers such as Jan Němec and Jan Svěrák, who left a lasting mark on Czech cinema, as well as distinctive talents from newer generations – Daria Kashcheeva, Bára Anna Stejskalová and Marie Magdalena Kochová.
“We are of course aware that there are time gaps in the selection, but that is the fate of every selection – something is always missing. The original ambition was to choose eight films, one for each decade, but that proved impossible; some periods are simply stronger and others weaker. In any case, we tried to make a selection that would cover the entire time span as well as possible while reflecting diversity of genre, theme and form, as well as a generational and gender balance. We also wanted to show something extraordinary – for example the North-Bohemian Petroleus mostensis, or the mud-loving oil-gobbler, which does not occur anywhere else,” explains one of the programme’s curators, Prof. Jiří Voráč.
Films in the programme
Setkání (Vladimír Svitáček, 1953)
The Loaf of Bread (Jan Němec, 1960)
Oil Gobblers (Jan Svěrák, 1988)
Zavřeno pro rodinný smutek (Saša Gedeon, 1991)
Pripyat piano (Eliška Cilková, 2019)
Daughter (Daria Kashcheeva, 2019)
Love Is Just a Death Away (Bára Anna Stejskalová, 2020)
3MWh (Marie Magdalena Kochová, 2024)
Programme curators
The programme was curated by Professor Jiří Voráč, Professor Jan Bernard and Associate Professor Tereza Czesany Dvořáková.
The full programme of the 32nd festival edition, including the screening dates of The Best of FAMU, will be published in the first half of June at aff.cinepass.sk.
The 32nd IFF ART FILM is made possible thanks to the support of:
Main organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: Mesto Košice, K13 – Košické kultúrne centrá, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST, n.o.
The project was co-financed by the Košice Self-governing Region from the Terra Incognita program.
Main partner: CODES Brand House
Automotive partner: AUTO-VALAS
Official hotel: Hotel Yasmin
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia
Sponsors: U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK Telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media, CORE Labs, Technická univerzita v Košiciach
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA
Official suppliers: DKC Veritas, PLOOM, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Reštaurácia Contessa, Natura, Kinley, Julius Meinl
Media partners: JOJ play, JOJ 24, Film Europe Media Company, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, AHOJ TV, See & Go, Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze – ČSFD, Filmsk.sk, BigMedia, Kino Sterio, Košice City Guide, Košice V Skratke, MOJAkultura.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, DDDental, Taper, ECO Technologies, Letisko Košice, CPK Transport, Kvety Garomi, Hair Factory Košice, MIHYRING
Gastronomic partners: Pub u Kohúta, OhniskO Fire Dining & Brew Bar, MAIKO SUSHI, Kaviareň Slávia, El Nacional, Tabačka Kulturfabrik, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe
