The annual spotlight on Czech cinema, Finále Plzeň, is gearing up for its 36th edition (22-27 September), under the fresh leadership of its new artistic director, Lenka Tyrpáková. Until recently, Tyrpáková had served as a programmer for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, in a variety of positions she had held since 2005. In 2021, she began her collaboration with Finále Plzeň, curating its short films. This year, she has selected Matěj Chlupáček's We Have Never Been Modern [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Matěj Chlupáček y Miro Šifra
ficha de la película] (Czech Republic/Slovakia) as the opening film. “Although it's a period drama,” Tyrpáková remarked, “its visual style and the themes it delves into are incredibly contemporary. Moreover, it's a film that stands up very well in international competition.”

Movies spread across five competition categories will be adjudicated by international juries, consisting solely of foreign film experts, and by student panels from the West Bohemia University in Pilsen. “Out of the 171 films in contention, 38 are vying for the Golden Kingfisher Award,” stated festival director Eva Veruňková Košařová. She further commented: “Yet, Finále isn't merely a platform for competition films. Dozens more will grace other segments, including a retrospective of the past year's standout audiovisual works in ‘In the Net’, a sample of premieres and previews in the ‘First Catch’ section, and a spotlight on films involving Czech film professionals, showcased under ‘Czech Traces’.”

Festival-goers will be captivated by the Czech premiere of the drama Green Border [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] (Poland/Czech Republic/France/Belgium), directed by three-time Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland. Fresh from its Venice Film Festival debut, where it clinched the Special Jury Prize, this feature is set to be a particular highlight. Additionally, the line-up will flaunt the sci-fi flick Restore Point [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Robert Hloz
ficha de la película] (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Poland/Serbia) and the Annecy International Festival's award-winning animated feature Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] by Filip Pošivač (Hungary/Slovakia/Czech Republic).

The competition of fiction and animation features includes Brutal Heat [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Albert Hospodářský
ficha de la película] by Albert Hospodářský (Czech Republic/Slovakia), A Sensitive Person [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Tomáš Klein
ficha de la película] by Tomáš Klein (Czech Republic/Slovakia), Snake Gas [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la película] by David Jařab (Czech Republic/Slovakia), Power [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la película] by Mátyás Prikler (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Hungary – see the news), Endless Borders [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Abbas Amini
ficha de la película] by Abbas Amini (Czech Republic/Germany), She Came at Night [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Tomáš Pavlíček, Jan Vejnar
ficha de la película] by Tomáš Pavlíček and Jan Vejnar (Czech Republic), and the aforementioned Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light and We Have Never Been Modern.

Meanwhile, the competition of documentary features comprises Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limits [+lee también:
tráiler
ficha de la película] by Jan Šimánek and Petr Záruba (Czech Republic/Italy), Generace A: Do What You Love by Kryštof Zvolánek (Czech Republic), Citizen Miko by Robin Kvapil (Czech Republic), The Visitors [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] by Veronika Lišková (Czech Republic/Norway/Slovakia), Happily Ever After by Jana Počtová (Czech Republic), Big Nothing by Vít Klusák and Marika Pecháčková (Czech Republic – see the news), Všechno dobře dopadne by Miroslav Janek (Czech Republic), All Men Become Brothers [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] by Robert Kirchhoff (Czech Republic/Slovakia) and The Investigator [+lee también:
tráiler
entrevista: Viktor Portel
ficha de la película] by Viktor Portel (Croatia/Czech Republic).

Finally, the “ZOOM” section, dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema, will present a trio of Ukrainian gems: the semi-autobiographical comedy by Antonio Lukich Luxembourg, Luxembourg [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Antonio Lukich
ficha de la película], Eastern Front [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Vitaly Mansky, Yevhen Tita…
ficha de la película] by Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko, and Kateryna Gornostai's Stop-Zemlia [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Kateryna Gornostai
ficha de la película]. Alongside these Ukrainian offerings, the festival will spotlight contemporary German cinema, showcasing Sophie Linnenbaum's The Ordinaries [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Sophie Linnenbaum
ficha de la película], Henning Beckhoff's Fossil and Andreas Dresen's courtroom dramedy Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Andreas Dresen
entrevista: Meltem Kaptan
ficha de la película].