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The Prague Film Awards 2025
1 February at the Kino Světozor
The 6th Prague Film Awards will take place on the 1st of February at the Kino Světozor. Blending two short film programmes and one feature film, this year’s edition brings 14 international independent films.
Under the theme ‘Stories on the edge of belonging‘ the 2025 Prague Film Awards programme spans genres and styles, presenting powerful narratives of alienation, resilience, and hope. Stories that delve into the lives of individuals and communities navigating the spaces between connection and isolation, identity and displacement, arrival and departure.
The Prague Film Awards 2025 starts with two short film programmes and finishes with the internationally acclaimed feature film ‘Bionico’s Bachata’, by the Dominican filmmaker Yoel Morales. The film tells the story of Bionico, a hopeless romantic addicted to crack, who wants to marry La Flaca, his fiancée but must find a ring, a job, and a house, and stay clean by the time she is out of the rehabilitation centre.
With the notion of belonging in the epicentre, the short film programmes blend films of various themes and aesthetics. David Vu’s ‘Pre-Artist’, explores the artistic struggles and the process of self-discovery, ‘Prague’s Girl’ by Andree Lucini tells a love story that blossomed in Prague during the Russian occupation started in 1968 while Daniel Path’s FUCK THIS SHIT, LOVE ME! is about navigating the modern dating world.
Each of the 13 independent short films challenges us to rethink the meaning of home, connection, and identity in a world in flux.
The Prague Film Awards takes pride in boasting a diverse and thought-provoking programme of films by rising talents of various backgrounds and from the four corners of the earth.
For the 6th year in a row, the PFA invites the audience to explore the power of independent cinema, connect with the cinephile community and draw inspiration from all the showcased talented filmmakers.
Programme
Short Films | 18.00 – 19.30
Pre-Artist, David Vu • 13′ • Norway • 2024 • Short Film Competition
Pre-Artist is a poignant exploration of artistic struggles, self-discovery, and the beauty that lies within the imperfections of the creative journey.
Screentime, Alexandrena Parker • 7′ • Australia • 2024 • Short Film Competition
‘Screentime’ is a social commentary narrative illustrating the contrast between digital screens and the tactile world in childhood, demonstrating how boredom acts as a catalyst for imaginative play and engagement with one’s environment.
Prague’s Girl, Andree Lucini • 20′ • Italy • 2023 • Short Documentary Competition
Francesco and Eloisa reconstruct their family past starting from their grandparents’ complex love story of Masa and Gianlorenzo, which blossomed in Prague during the Russian occupation started in 1968.
Wild Eye Pub, Filip Nerold • 15′ • Czech Republic • 2023 • Animated Film Competition
During an unplanned visit to a local taproom called ‘Wild Eye Pub’, the person of Death succumbs not only to a sudden love affair but also to a number of other deadly mistakes and absurd situations.
Nico, Max Olson • 17′ • United States • 2024 • Student Film Competition, Drama Competition
Nico is a surreal drama that follows a young trans man throughout one night as he struggles with identity. When his grieving elderly neighbour, Helen, mistakes him for her recently deceased husband, a connection forms that sets them both free. Nico uses dark, haunting 35mm visuals to evoke isolation and loneliness, building to a deeply emotional catharsis at the climax. The liminal spaces Nico traverses, from the dance floor of a hardcore punk club to an ageing apartment building, are filled with the romantic melody of 1940s love songs seeping through the walls. This is a story about how one connection can transcend the boundaries of time, space and gender, allowing us to truly be seen.
Reach, Lilliana Rose Lyons • 9′ • United States • 2023 • Drama Film Competition
In the eccentric world of a method actor’s studio, ‘Reach’ centres on Jeff and his varying degrees of discomfort, as a fellow classmate and a playful instructor challenge him to dig deep and leave his ego behind.
**Break: 19:30 – 19:40**
Short Films | 19.40 – 21.10
T-minus, L.M. Oliver • 13′ • United States • 2023 • Short Film Competition
To make the leap into space, astronaut Ben Fletcher must leave behind a life that could have been.
The Silicon – After the Mind Upload., Ricardo Villavicencio, • 6′ • United States • 2022 Animated Film Competition
After everything, humans decided to upload their brains to the cloud and leave their bodies behind; a generation of headless ones, aka Arimons, must learn to live without the mind and let their instincts begin a new world. The animated short collects five self-contained stories that come together to create a satire around the concept of posthumanism. Technological advances have blended with the human race reaching a turning point that made human consciousness leave the Earth. The Silicon is a surreal and absurd anthology that presents the lives of those left behind due to the Singularity.
FUCK THIS SHIT, LOVE ME!, Daniel Path • 7′ • Czech Republic • 2024 • Comedy Film Competition
The story of a teenage girl navigating the modern dating world. Emma pours out her frustrations into her diary about the challenges of finding true love in a world where bad dates follow worse ones, and dating apps bring more despair than hope. But what if what Emma really needs is not what she’s been so desperately searching for? The film reveals that love can come unexpectedly.
Home for Christmas, Cosmea Spelleken • Germany • 2023 • 18′ • Student Film, Drama Film Competition
Arthur, who lost contact with his ex and daughter three years ago, works as a hired Santa Claus on Christmas. When he learns that a girl on the list could be his daughter, he takes over the gift-giving. His daughter doesn’t recognize him, but his ex-girlfriend does. For the evening, both have to put their conflicts aside so as not to ruin their daughter’s Christmas – after all, you don’t just throw Santa Claus out.
Joy of Art, Takaya Onishi • 20′ • Japan • 2024 • Short Documentary Competition
Small Art School (SAS) was born out of founder Tomoko Kasahara’s wish that Cambodian children born under unfavourable conditions spend their once-in-a-lifetime childhood in a spiritually rich way. This documentary film follows the artists and Ms. Kasahara and shows the abundant happiness of human beings that we forget today.
The Dead Eurasian Blackbird, Arpen Sargsyan • 10′ • Sweden • 2024 • Short Film Competition
Yan’s encounter with a couple at the local park evolves dramatically, taking unexpected twists that lead to a complex entanglement of realisations, ultimately challenging how they perceive one another.
Octopus, Catarina Sobral • 8′ • Portugal • 2022 • Animated Film Competition
A foreigner comes to a new city. He doesn’t speak the language of the locals or look like them: instead of two, he has several arms, like an octopus. He seems to approach others and even offers them his arms. Whenever he wants, the foreigner can rip off one of his arms, and it grows back. Over time, the octopus man becomes part of the city, until the day he learns the new language.
**Break: 21:10 – 21:20**
Feature Film 21:20 – 22:40
Bionico’s Bachata, Yoel Morales • 81′ • Dominican Republic • 2024 • Feature Film Competition
A raw vision of love in a hostile Caribbean city, Bionico’s Bachata follows a hopeless romantic, addicted to crack, who must take control of his life if he wants to marry the woman he loves.
Venue
Kino Světozor
Address: Vodičkova 791, 110 00 Nové Město, Czechia
Phone: +420 224 946 824
Starting time: 18.00
Admission Fee
General Admission Fee: 120CZK per screening
Discounted for students and seniors: 100CZK per screening
Films are in English or with English subtitles
Links: