The Marienbad Film Festival is an international film festival focusing on works of an experimental nature, marginal forms of cinema, contemporary moving image, and artistic & challenging films. It creates an opportunity for independent and experimental filmmakers and artists using the moving image to meet, but also aims to make more challenging films accessible to a wider audience.

It brings in guests and films of international significance and introduces audiences to important works from the present and history of world cinema that experiment within form and narrative. It is an integral part of the cultural programme of Mariánské Lázně, has long supported the local cultural background and links the activities of cultural associations and local cultural organisers.

From the very beginning, the Marienbad Film Festival has been closely linked to its venue - the town of Mariánské Lázně. The spa town made its mark in the history of Czech film festivals as early as 1946-1949 with four successful editions of the festival, which was later moved to Karlovy Vary. The phenomenon of organising film festivals in tourist resorts has proven itself all over the world. The Marienbad Film Festival systematically enters the public space of the town and prepares the encounter of films with other art forms and expressions of cultural and social life, of visitors with local film lovers. In addition to the cinema, films will also take over the atypical spaces of the Casino Community Centre, the Municipal Theatre, the Chopin House, the Colonnade and the Municipal Museum.

The mission of the Marienbad Film Festival is the development of the field of experimental film and fringe forms of cinema in the Czech Republic and internationally, as well as the cultural and social development of the town of Mariánské Lázně and the entire Mariánské Lázně region.

Programme sections

Selection
A curated selection of 6-8 authors or collectives from the Czech Republic and abroad, which presents a mosaic of approaches to experimentation in filmmaking. In the non-competitive section, the authors or collectives are presented in the form of masterclasses, retrospective strips or site-specific film screenings in 1-2 programme blocks.
In recent years Selection have presented for example Roman Štětina, Jakub Čermák, Lenka Lindaurová, Sabine Groschup, Martina Netíková, Michal Kindernay and Viera Čákanyová.

Forum Marienbad
A competition section that presents a variety of approaches to film experimentation. It moves within a broader definition of experimental film, which includes abstract and non-narrative forms as well as borderline forms of formally or content-subversive works that define themselves in relation to classical fiction narrative cinema. The section aims to present a selection of the best projects experimenting in form and narrative over the past year and a half.
The section will showcase 25 films submitted through an open call and curated invitation. The show will be structured into three programme blocks, complemented by lecturer introductions and discussions with the participating authors.

Forum Marienbad: Main Competition
From the films included in the Forum Marienbad programme, the dramaturgy team will select 10 finalists, which will be judged by an international board of three judges, who will award three equal Marienbad Film Festival Awards for Best Experimental Film.

Forum Marienbad: Audiovisual Essays
A competition section focusing on the format of audiovisual essays or videographic form Criticism. The audiovisual essay, video-essay (or also videographic essay) is a format audiovisual work that develops a form of academic research or film criticism through the film itself. The section is created to support videographic film studies and to introduce an international community of audiovisual essayists.
The selection of the open call will be handled by two Czech experts in videographic Jiří Anger and Veronika Hanáková.

Vzory / Masters
The section presents feature films by established filmmakers and artists who bring experimentation into art cinema. The section will present 8-10 feature films by international filmmakers at the intersection of fine art and film that are not mainstream distribution and from classics of art cinema. The section includes a long-term retrospective of films by director Alain Resnais (Festival festival presents one film from the filmmaker's filmography each year).
In previous years, the section has presented films by Eric Baudelaire, Jean-Luc Godard, Gaspar Noé, Cristi Puiu, Hong Sang Soo, Ekaterina Selenkina, Apichatopong Weerasethakul.

Photo & Video

Partners

General partner

Financial support

We would like to thank Kateřina Havrlant, Pavlína Folprechtová and David Folprecht for their financial support.

Partners

Media partners

Partners of Dojetí

Partner festivals

Thank you to all partners for their support!

Press

Would you like to write about us? We're open to it. If you're interested in a press pass, please contact us at dankova.jolana@gmail.com.

Contacts

Marienbad Film Distribution

In 2019, Marienbad Film decided to take another step forward by entering the field of film distribution. The first titles released on this platform were Bohdan Karásek's feature debut Karel, Me and You and the French classic Last Year at Marienbad by Alain Resnais. Marienbad Film naturally complements the activities of the Marienbad Film Festival, which has been raising awareness of experimental and independent cinema for six years while enriching the Karlovy Vary region with an internationally oriented cultural event. It also aligns with the Mobile Film Club, which throughout the year presents audiences with carefully curated films and focuses on audience engagement.

Selection
A curated selection of 6-8 authors or collectives from the Czech Republic and abroad, which presents a mosaic of approaches to experimentation in filmmaking. In the non-competitive section, the authors or collectives are presented in the form of masterclasses, retrospective strips or site-specific film screenings in 1-2 programme blocks.
In recent years Selection have presented for example Roman Štětina, Jakub Čermák, Lenka Lindaurová, Sabine Groschup, Martina Netíková, Michal Kindernay and Viera Čákanyová.

Forum Marienbad
A competition section that presents a variety of approaches to film experimentation. It moves within a broader definition of experimental film, which includes abstract and non-narrative forms as well as borderline forms of formally or content-subversive works that define themselves in relation to classical fiction narrative cinema. The section aims to present a selection of the best projects experimenting in form and narrative over the past year and a half.
The section will showcase 25 films submitted through an open call and curated invitation. The show will be structured into three programme blocks, complemented by lecturer introductions and discussions with the participating authors.

Forum Marienbad: Main Competition
From the films included in the Forum Marienbad programme, the dramaturgy team will select 10 finalists, which will be judged by an international board of three judges, who will award three equal Marienbad Film Festival Awards for Best Experimental Film.

Forum Marienbad: Audiovisual Essays
A competition section focusing on the format of audiovisual essays or videographic form Criticism. The audiovisual essay, video-essay (or also videographic essay) is a format audiovisual work that develops a form of academic research or film criticism through the film itself. The section is created to support videographic film studies and to introduce an international community of audiovisual essayists.
The selection of the open call will be handled by two Czech experts in videographic Jiří Anger and Veronika Hanáková.

Vzory / Masters
The section presents feature films by established filmmakers and artists who bring experimentation into art cinema. The section will present 8-10 feature films by international filmmakers at the intersection of fine art and film that are not mainstream distribution and from classics of art cinema. The section includes a long-term retrospective of films by director Alain Resnais (Festival festival presents one film from the filmmaker's filmography each year).
In previous years, the section has presented films by Eric Baudelaire, Jean-Luc Godard, Gaspar Noé, Cristi Puiu, Hong Sang Soo, Ekaterina Selenkina, Apichatopong Weerasethakul.

We would like to thank Kateřina Havrlant, Pavlína Folprechtová and David Folprecht for their financial support.

Partners

Media Partners

Partners of Dojetí

Partner Festivals

Would you like to write about us? We're open to it. If you're interested in a press pass, please contact us at dankova.jolana@gmail.com.

Zuzana Stejskalová
Festival President
+420 606 266 714
zuzana@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Anna Kopecká
Executive Director
+420 777135023
anna@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Tomáš Vobořil
Programme Director
+420 776 011 761
tomas@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Stano Čaban
Production Director
+420 773 642 327
produkce@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Jolana Danková
PR
+420 775 857 870
dankova.jolana@gmail.com

Anna Kvítková
Guest Service
+420 733 576 641
guestservice@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Open Call
festival@marienbadfilmfestival.com

Shipping
program@marienbadfilmfestival.com

General information
info@marienbadfilmfestival.com