The Prague Youth Film Festival 2019 (PYFF) takes place December 20–22, with events at the American Center, Kino Dlabačov, NoD, and Chapeau Rouge.
The program has 25
films from 17 countries, and while the top age for narrative and
documentary features is 35, there are categories for short narrative
films, first-time features, and documentary shorts for filmmakers
aged 15-25; for student shorts for ages 15-35; and top 10 under 10
for ages 4-9.
The features include the international premiere of the Brazilian social media documentary Digital Apotheosis, German thriller A Clear Feeling (Kahlschlug), and Danish drama Dream State.
Other notable films are the international premiere of Into the Storm, an American documentary about a basketball team’s triumph in the face of racism, and North Korea World 2019, showing North Korea from a Chinese student’s perspective.
Czech films include the historical adventure Freedom in the Air (Narusitel), directed by 19-year-old David Balda.
The festival has
international short films from such countries as Kenya, Canada,
Russia, Turkey, Peru, France, the UK, Vietnam, and Georgia. A special
highlight will be films on environmental themes.
The international jury is composed of American film producer Rick McCallum (Star Wars episodes I–III, Britannia, In Love and War, Borgia), British director Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine, Everybody’s Fine, What to Expect When You’re Expecting) German cinematographer René Richter (Head Full of Honey, Zone Rouge), Czech production designer Petr Kunc (Lea, Day of the Dog, The Hypnotist), New Zealand cinematographer Michael Seresin (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, War for the Planet of the Apes), Film Commissioner Pavlína Žipková (Czech Film Commission / Czech Film Fund).
Canon is the main partner of festival. Other partners include the Czech Film Commission, US Embassy Prague, BIOFILMS and Chapeau Rouge.
The festival is organized by Petra and Paul Ratner, who produced the 48 Hour Film Project in Prague for eight years. Pavlina Saward from Driven by Creatives is the co-producer.