10/02/2026 - The 13th edition of the Central European networking and training event will host masterclasses, film school showcases and a peer-to-peer film criticism workshop

The Visegrad Film Forum is set to return to Bratislava from 11 to 14 March, opening the doors once again to the creative processes behind contemporary European cinema and television. Now in its 13th edition, the event will offer up four days of masterclasses, workshops and in-depth discussions with internationally acclaimed filmmakers, alongside special screenings and presentations by leading film schools.

Among the first confirmed guests is German production designer Uli Hanisch, whose career spans landmark films such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006) and Cloud Atlas [+see also:
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making of
film profile] (2012), as well as high-profile series including Babylon Berlin and The Queen’s Gambit. Known for his ability to translate the psychological and social dimensions of a story into space, Hanisch has received numerous accolades, including the German Film Award and honours from the European Film Academy.

The forum will also welcome Alexander Nanau, the German-Romanian documentary filmmaker behind Collective [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (2019), which was the first Romanian film to be nominated for Academy Awards in both the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film categories. Nanau’s work, which also includes The World According to Ion B. and Toto and His Sisters [+see also:
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film profile], is characterised by a rigorous ethical approach, long-term observation and strong engagement with questions of power, responsibility and collective memory.

Rounding off the trio of headline guests is Hungarian director György Pálfi, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary European cinema. From the provocative Taxidermia [+see also:
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film profile] (2006) to the cinephile experiment Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen [+see also:
film review
interview: Gyorgy Palfi
film profile] (2012) and his latest feature Hen [+see also:
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interview: György Pálfi
film profile] (2025), Pálfi’s films are known for their bold visual language, unconventional narrative structures and exploration of the human body as a site of desire and transformation.

One long-standing pillar of the Visegrad Film Forum is its focus on emerging talent and film education. This year’s programme will include presentations and screenings by students from several international film schools, with discussions addressing both the films themselves and the educational and production contexts in which they were made. Participating institutions include the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, FAMU Prague, the Lodz Film School, the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, the University of Television and Film Munich, and Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University in Georgia.

The forum will once again be hosting its Peer-to-Peer Film Criticism Workshop, led by Maja Krajnc. Designed for emerging writers and film enthusiasts, the workshop invites participants to collectively watch, discuss and write about films, approaching criticism as a shared and creative practice embedded in the festival experience. Click here to register, as required for the workshop.

Since 2019, the Visegrad Film Forum has collaborated closely with IFF FEBIOFEST Bratislava, with accreditations granting access to both events. Organised by Boiler o.z. in cooperation with the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and nutprodukcia, the event is supported by the Audiovisual Fund, the International Visegrad Fund, FilmEU and Creative Europe’s Slovakia Desk.