VISITORS OF THE ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL MUST REGISTER FOR FILM SCREENINGS AND PART OF THE SUPPORTING PROGRAM

The grand 60th Zlín Film Festival will start in Zlín in two weeks. It will bring 300 films from 50 countries, 158 premieres, 37 film workshops, and a supporting program. However, stricter hygiene measures will be reflected in its final form this year. All visitors must register for the cinema and the events of the supporting program. This year, the festival takes place from September 4 to 10.

The Zlín Film Festival has never missed a year in its history, so the organizers decided to carry it out even though the current situation complicates it a lot.

"Our project has been focused on working with child audiences from the very beginning, so we consider it important, especially after children have spent so much time at home. And the offering of films in cinemas is limited; we can provide them with a quality film experience that they can share with their classmates, parents, and friends,"

said the festival president Čestmír Vančura and underlined the other significance of the festival:

"Last but not least, our festival is the first 'post-covid' event where filmmakers for children and young people can present their films at all. We consider the offer of quality audio-vision to be important for society today."

The organizers have adjusted the festival to its current form so that it complies with the valid hygienic measures of the Government of the Czech Republic and the Regional Hygienic Station.

"We continuously monitor the situation and adapt to current changes and regulations. We have prepared a detailed hygienic-epidemiological plan, which we submitted to the representatives of the Regional Hygienic Station, with whom we are in close contact,"

said the executive director of the Zlín Film Festival, Jarmila Záhorová, adding:

"From our point of view, we have canceled risky events and we have paid attention to those that are not risky and focused mainly on the film program, where we can ensure compliance with applicable hygiene rules. We have a specially created team for the disinfection of indoor and outdoor areas; individual festival locations will be equipped with stands with disinfectants. We are equipped with drapes, equipment for the disinfection of interiors, and other protective equipment."

One change during the morning screenings for schools are measures where specific performances will be intended exclusively for pupils of one school, to the exclusion of the public and film delegations. The film festival remains international and will offer audiences attractive films from a number of countries, including less traditional ones such as South Korea, Mexico, Australia, Spain, Brazil and Norway. This year, however, it will take place without the annual participation of foreign film delegations, which have always accompanied individual films to Zlín.

"With regard to the situation, we have also adjusted the composition of international juries. Most of the foreign representatives are film experts who have lived in the Czech Republic for a long time,"

said the artistic director Markéta Pášmová.

A fundamental change within the festival is the need for registration, which is a condition for the purchase of cinema tickets and visits to selected events of the supporting program.

"All visitors, including children, must register online from the festival website as of August 24 or via the" Zlinfest" application, or from September 1 in person at a special registration point at the "Náměstí Míru" public transport stop. We ask that people not wait until the start of the festival and to register as soon as possible,"

Jarmila Záhorová emphasizes, making sure that all registration options will be very easy. Thanks to this, people can thus attend film screenings, the outdoor cinema, discussions, workshops, concerts, as well as virtual reality, and other events of the supporting program within fenced zones, to which access will not be possible without registration. There are also a number of new items in connection with the 60th anniversary of the festival, namely a virtual gallery, augmented reality, and a time machine.

This year, for safety reasons, large concerts in the concert zone, performances by the Basic Art Schools and other interest groups, and the regular "Red Carpets" have been excluded from the supporting program. There will also be no "party tent" down from the open-air cinema, which the organizers also evaluated as too risky a location.

"But visitors will not completely miss out on meeting popular personalities. We are preparing new attractive formats, which we will present at the festival itself,“

indicated Jarmila Záhorová.

The film and supporting program will be announced on Friday, August 21, and the advance sale of tickets for film performances will begin on August 28. Detailed information about the program and current measures can be found on the website or in the festival application Zlinfest.cz

Due to the current development of the situation, this year's MONET + Zlín 2020 Festival Half-Marathon will also have its participation limited. The starting point of the Festival VIVA family run has been relocated and there are some changes to the rules on the organization of the race. The event, organized by the company FILMFEST s.r.o. together with Běhy Zlín z.s., will take place on the previously announced alternative date of September 12, 2020.