FEBIOFEST

FEBIOFEST was founded in 1993 by FEBIO, an independent film and TV company. During the hard transition period from communism to democracy and market economy, FEBIO provided a working opportunity to almost all important Czech filmmakers including Vera Chytilova, Juraj Jakubisko, Jiri Menzel, Jan Jires, Jan Hrebejk and many others.

Starting as an enthusiastically organized, basically no-budget event for a couple of friends and film buffs, FEBIOFEST has grown during the past years into one of the largest film festivals in the Czech Republic, which nevertheless still maintains its original profile as an audience-friendly festival. Basically the festival is oriented to full length films, bringing to Czech audiences the best of the last year, distribution premieres, retrospectives and tributes. It also discovers new territories and unknown filmmakers, and features special sections dedicated to gay and lesbian cinema, children’s films (FEBIO JUNIOR FESTIVAL), and even experimental films.

Based on the votes of more than a hundred Czech journalists, each year FEBIOFEST awards the prestigious KRISTIÁN, the Czech Critics’ Prize, in three categories: feature, documentary and animation films. The festival has recently added a Lifetime Achievement Award whose recipient is chosen by Czech audiences.

After the festival has completed its run in Prague, selected films (mostly distribution pre-premieres) travel to 8 other Czech cities to give movie lovers beyond the capital an opportunity to see high quality films. The spirit of FEBIOFEST even makes its way to neighboring Slovakia, where the Slovak FEBIOFEST is organized independently.