Zlín dog´s Section: The Quality of Student Films Is Increasing Each Year

This year's edition of the Zlín Dog festival will offer exactly 50 competition films. Each section will present a selection of student fiction, animation and documentary work from all over the world. You can watch the trailer here.

Just like established film professionals, aspiring filmmakers are plagued by topical burning themes such as women's issues, femininity and feminism (the documentaries Birthmarks and My Grandmother Is an Egg), and the Iranian/Indian live-acted film Katvoman. Of course, there is no shortage of war conflict and its consequences. The film Waking Up in Silence depicts the lives of Ukrainian children in temporary housing in Germany. Vinland describes the working conditions of economic migrants in the Czech Republic. Debit Card, on the other hand, focuses on job assistance in the environment of the prosperous Netherlands. Those Who Follow thematizes extremism and the Hungarian film Winners  focuses on excessive aggression in the environment of young people. Optimism and inner human strength are brought into this selection by films reflecting the lives of disabled people in the live-acted film Of Kisses and Capes, as well as the documentary Two Souls, One Mind. Politically incorrect humor is represented by the Hungarian animated film Decent Hoggery, about what a boar would say if given the gift of speech, but not the thoughts of a man. Once again, Slovak filmmakers did not disappoint and have provided proof that they have mastered the art of filmmaking. The comedy genre's most difficult discipline is represented here by the feature film Rave To The Grave and a documentary portrait of a man with a passion for collecting small models of trucks After the Wedding.

This year, a record number of Czech films have entered the competition. A total of 12 films represent the FAMU school, such as Rites, Vinland, Ice Break, Dede Is Dead, Carp Xmass,and the documentary films Eva Eisler and Everything’s Fine, Potatoes in Line capturing the battle over a brown coal mine and the Turów power plant against the background of a competition for the best potato salad. From Tomas Bata University you can look forward to the animated films Metamorphosis and Whatman, the dance film Selfmotion and the ambicious Island of Freedom starring Jiří Mádl and Judit Bárdos.     

The great joy and good feeling that it makes sense to support young creators, is evidenced by nominations and awards collected by student films supported by the FILMTALENT ZLÍN Endowment Fund. This year's competition section will feature several feature and animated films that sharply, though with exaggeration, reflect the gifts and talents of the emerging filmmaking scene. The topic of bullying and social status is the focus of Rites. Selfmotion, on the other hand, expresses the inner workings without a single word. Dede Is Dead,has also become an international success in the form of an honorable mention in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale. Another film to boast successful acceptance outside its home country is the Singaporean film Time Flows in Strange Ways on Sundays, which premiered at the Locarnu festival and Spring Roll Dream screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France. If we stay in the Czech pond, we cannot forget two student films that were awarded by Czech juries with Czech Lions. The Best Short Film Award went to Rites and the Magnesia Award for Best Student Film to Vinland.

We are therefore very pleased that the quality of student films is getting increasingly noticed by the organizers of not only festivals, but also film awards. We are keeping our fingers crossed for this year's competitors and we are curious to see how Czech representatives will stand up to such strong competition. Either way, they will again be the most interesting student works in the whole world. 

List of competition films: