Anna Kaslová has been the head of Ex Oriente Film and East Doc Forum since 2019. We met her on the occasion of East Doc Platform, the industry event dedicated to documentary projects that took place from 19-25 March in Prague.

Cineuropa: How is the Ex Oriente Film workshop structured?
Anna Kaslová: It consists of two parallel programs: Ex Oriente Film (for feature documentaries) and Ex Oriente Series (for documentary series), with a follow-up programme available to both current participants and alumni. In 2025-2026, each programme has three residential sessions, culminating in the Pitch in Prague in March, which is accessible to the public. We started Ex Oriente Series three years ago as the first of the training programmes with this focus. For this edition, we selected five projects, and throughout the course of the workshop, the teams met with several tutors. All five of those teams who came to the workshop at a very early stage of development have significantly improved the creative aspects, and have also moved ahead in securing more financing for their productions.

For the feature group, Ex Oriente Film, which was launched more than 20 years ago, I could say the same. We had 12 projects that joined us in 2025, and it's always very intense. Each session is focused on different aspects of production and creative development. At the third session, they work on their pitch teasers and presentations, receiving a great deal of feedback from their mentors and tutors. Additionally, the workshop follows a participatory model, which encourages peer-to-peer support, so producers and directors also receive feedback from their fellow participants.

In light of the winning projects [see the report], what is the documentary market focusing on right now?
All of the award-winning projects focus on issues that really resonate with people. House in a Bottle, for example, which won two awards, explores the topic of children of alcoholics through the director’s own family experience. What I like about the director’s approach is that she is aiming for healing – not just for herself, but also for her parents and for other children of alcoholics – through this project. I think she represents a movement in which documentary filmmakers are dealing with delicate subjects. At the same time, the recipient of the Czech Television Award, Not So Far Away Places, is being directed by two people who are in exile because of their political beliefs, and so is their character. That's very symptomatic of today: some of the directors or their characters are currently not residing in their place of birth. And very often, it's because of wars or political reasons, and they are all very brave, putting themselves in enormous danger. I think it's good for us to see that in this case, it will become one of the films scheduled to air on Czech Television. So, they are very political issues and topics, but again, they are told through the personal experiences of real people who are facing it all.

When selecting a project for the workshop, what is the main quality you seek out?
The boundaries are established through our focus on the Central Eastern European region. But aside from that, we are looking for auteur-driven stories told in an unconventional way. We are looking for innovative, courageous and curious auteurs who are searching for new ways to tell a story using film or documentary forms, and are not afraid of the outcome; so, the film can also be uncomfortable. The topics are also very important to our selection. We often look for movies that will make an impact, spark conversations or shed light on issues that matter.

What are the future plans for the Ex Oriente Film workshop? Is there anything that can be improved?
The Institute of Documentary Film has been a fundamental platform and support system for 25 years, a building block for Central and Eastern European documentary storytellers, the infrastructure and the film industry. It has significantly influenced various generations of producers and creative filmmakers from these territories, and has had an impact on the European film industry in general. Our goal with the training is to continue supporting the development of creative, innovative and “difficult” projects, regardless of the format, and simultaneously provide producers with the new skills they need to stand strong in response to the ever-changing markets. Culture today is under constant threat, and we feel this more and more acutely. The threat is not “being underfinanced”, but “not being financed at all”. We need to stay connected and collaborate as an industry.

Perhaps one of the ways to react is by continuing to show through our work that we are here for filmmakers and audiences, that we will continue offering meaningful support, and that we are committed to sustaining it. We understand the need to be open to new formats and to support filmmakers in telling their stories differently, perhaps in different formats, and as always, we will champion the idea that there is a need to be equipped with new skills – for example, artificial intelligence [AI] tools and expertise. I believe it's equally important to involve AI experts who not only share the tools they use, but also commit to educating producers, directors and creators on ethics and IP rights, how to use AI and why. We will certainly adopt a hybrid approach to training, combining in-person and online sessions; we will continue to open our programme and methodology up to a larger number of participants.