The Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival will open on Oct. 24 with Czech director Barbora Chalupová’s “Virtual Girlfriends,” which reflects on the OnlyFans internet platform.
Through the stories of three women, the film follows the process of content creation, conversations with subscribers, and the everyday dynamics of their romantic and work relationships. Where is the line between work and intimacy, and who is actually the victim in all this?
” ‘Virtual Girlfriend’ is not a sensationalist look at eroticism, but an attempt to understand how intimacy, relationships, and our ideas about closeness are changing in the digital world,” Chalupová said. “The audience in Ji.hlava is curious and sensitive. They perceive current phenomena without prejudice and seek out films that open up space for dialogue. I am glad that our film can open this year’s edition of this festival, which gives space to ethically sensitive and courageous documentaries.”
Ji.hlava director Marek Hovorka said, “The film does not dwell on the surface and does not rely on sensationalism, but approaches the more general theme of loneliness in the digital world. The OnlyFans website thus becomes just one of many social networks, and the protagonists of the film are not so different from ordinary users of other social networks as it might seem at first glance.”
The film will be screened in both Opus Bonum and Czech Joy sections.
The festival will offer 305 films, including 76 world premieres, 28 international premieres, and 15 European premieres.
The Opus Bonum competition section will feature 15 films. “Open” by Slovak director Diana Fabiánová explores open marriage through the eyes of the director herself, who turns the camera on herself and her partner, revealing the ethical and emotional layers of intimacy.
Maximilien Dejoie’s tragicomic film “Everything Works Out (In the End)” follows former sex worker Katelyn, whose journey for faith, meaning and redemption turns into a parable about U.S. society.
The seven-hour film diary “While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts” by Swiss-Canadian director Peter Mettler offers a meditation on human existence, time, and the places we inhabit. From canyons and deserts to forests and caves, it reveals the universal experiences of life and death and connects spectacular landscape images with intimate details of everyday life.
The documentary “Music in a Village Named 1PB” by Indian director Surabhi Sharma transports viewers to the Thar Desert in western Rajasthan, where a Muslim community of musicians preserves poetry and music that transcends the boundaries of religion and nation. The film sensitively shows the connection between people and the landscape, culture, and environment that shapes their identity.
Landscape is also an important element in the documentary “Bürglkopf,” about a “return center,” by Austrian director Lisa Polster. The film contrasts the picturesque Alpine scenery of Tyrol with the hopelessness and isolation of the people who live in this landscape involuntarily – rejected asylum seekers placed on top of the Bürglkopf mountain. Panoramic shots of mountains and pastures create an illusion of peace and freedom, which is immediately shattered by the awareness of the existence of a strictly guarded center.
All films in the Opus Bonum section can be found here.
