The seventh edition of the Prague Film Awards will take place Feb. 20 at Kino Světozor, continuing its focus on independent cinema and emerging filmmakers. The one-day event begins at 6 p.m. and features a curated lineup of short and feature-length films from the Czech Republic and abroad.
Organizers describe the Prague Film Awards as a platform for new talent and a meeting point for audiences interested in contemporary independent film. This year’s program spans drama, documentary, animation and experimental work, with films screening in English or with English subtitles.
Held in Prague’s city center, the event aims to support local art-house cinemas while offering a cross-section of recent international and Czech productions. Regular admission is CZK 120 per screening block, with discounted tickets for students and seniors priced at CZK 100.
International competition across genres
The evening opens with the first competition block, featuring short films from France, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Canada and Romania. Among them is The Tops by Lucile Prin, a French short following two maintenance workers in the mountains as tension builds during a fog-bound journey to a new assignment.
South Korean director Jiwoo Kim presents Being and Nothingness, a seven-minute animated work exploring the cycle of life through an irregular sequence of landscapes and living fragments. The film screens in both the Student Film and Animated Film competitions.
Czech entry Champion 471, directed by Mikita Pandeka, approaches documentary and experimental storytelling through the story of a cow seeking freedom from a livestock farm. Told from human, animal and dream perspectives, the film examines the fate of an individual within a broader system.
Other titles in the early block include The Pink House, a Canadian short documentary by Julie Langlois about an elderly couple leaving their longtime home in Québec City, and Pigeons On the Rooftop, Miruna Ursache’s Romanian short centered on conspiracy thinking in a Bucharest suburb. Dutch coming-of-age drama Wetboy, directed by Yentl Vlachos, follows a group of friends at the start of summer as one teenager confronts his sexuality.
The second block includes Belgian short Karaokiss by Mila Ryngaert, in which a young woman working at a karaoke bar faces the emotional fallout of a past relationship, accompanied by a fairy who seeks to guide her decisions. Norwegian animated short Grandpa Has a Broken Eye and Mom Is an Adventure, directed by Marita Mayer, explores communication and aphasia through the perspectives of four children.
British comedy Maximum Security by Richard Mann revisits a long-serving security guard implementing strict protocols at a university campus. Czech director Jan Daniel presents Mona Lisa (pictured at top), a student film about a couple who recreate famous paintings in photographs, only to face a shift in their relationship as memories begin to fade. The block concludes with French short The Experiment by Aurélien Peilloux, in which an anthropology student struggling after a breakup turns to a neuroscientist friend for an experimental anxiety treatment.
Feature screening closes the evening
The festival concludes with a 9 p.m. screening of Bird in Hand, a 90-minute feature by U.S. director Melody C. Roscher. The film follows a biracial bride-to-be who arrives unannounced at her mother’s rural home to plan her wedding. As the pair search for venues, unresolved tensions surface, complicating their attempts to reconnect.
Described as a dark comedy exploring race, family and identity, Bird in Hand anchors the Feature Film Competition and serves as the closing event of the evening. Its focus on intergenerational conflict and personal identity reflects broader thematic threads running through the program, including love, sexuality, memory and belonging.
Now in its seventh year, the Prague Film Awards positions itself as a space where emerging filmmakers can present work to an international audience in an intimate cinema setting. Returning to Kino Světozor for its seventh edition, the event maintains its emphasis on theatrical exhibition at a time when independent distribution remains challenging.
