Alongside them onstage was the organiser of Febiofest’s regional versions in South Bohemia, Ivo Brabec, and the operator of venue Kino Kotva, Jan Turinský. Kino Kotva dates back to the 1920s, when it was the cinema at the Sokol gymnastics organization; in 1956 it was fitted with the city’s first wide screen.
The programme in České Budějovice opened with a pre-premiere of new Czech picture The Silent Companion. Viewers can also look forward to Main Competition winner Servants, which is being screened at 17:30 on 30.9 v 17:30, and Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy, which shows that historical material can also speak to later generations. Also on the programme is The Truth by award-winning Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, which opened last year’s Venice IFF.