Must-see film festivals, premieres, and screenings in Czechia this autumn

The summer has officially ended, and Prague’s vibrant outdoor movie scene is packing up and exiting the stage. But back indoors, a whole lot is happening across Prague this fall, from well-known festival staples to exciting new premieres.

Coming back this year on October 8-15, Edison Filmhub and Film Europe’s top-quality Be2Can will once again showcase some of the best award-winning movies at the major international film festivals of Berlin, Venice, and Cannes. Held in over half a dozen venues around Prague and other locations across the Czech Republic, this year’s edition is packed with gems that would otherwise have missed regular distribution, from the labyrinthine horror film Exit 8 to Mother, an unconventional portrait of Mother Teresa.

Around the same time, Kino Atlas will host its staple Press Play Prague, an international film festival about media and journalism, from October 7 to 11, in cooperation with Project Syndicate and Denik Referendum. Shorts, features, and documentaries showcased this year will examine the challenges and dilemmas faced by journalists and highlight their role “as truth-seekers in an era of deepening polarization and rampant propaganda.”

Leaving Prague for Brno, the Serial Killer Festival is back for its 8th edition, from September 23-28. Once more, it will bring together TV and web series professionals, experts, academics, and amateurs from all around Europe to get a taste of the best TV has to offer today. Special screenings will pay tribute to David Lynch, including the pilot episode of Twin Peaks and his lesser-known Rabbits.

From October 24 to November 2, the largest festival of auteur documentary cinema in Central and Eastern Europe is coming back to Jihlava for a 29th installment, showcasing world premiering documentaries from Czechia, Hungary, France, the United States, Japan, South Korea, India, and more.

Kicking off this Thursday and running until October 5, the Future Gate Film Festival will delight and cater to all fans of science fiction movies. Centered around the themes of the human body, cybernetic enhancement, or artificial intelligence, the festival will screen new films, student movies, and old classics like E.T., The Fly, and Robocop in the beautiful hall of Kino Lucerna.

Coinciding with the nationwide Days of Architecture, the one-of-a-kind Film and Architecture Festival on October 1-6 will this year focus on highlighting the remarkable and often overlooked role of women and female figures in architecture and urban planning.

The well-known Mezipatra LGBTQ+ film festival will be back from November 6 to 13 in different Prague locations, including Edison Filmhub, Kino Světozor, and Kino 35. The detailed program hasn’t been released yet, but moviegoers can once again expect about 100 Czech and international movies highlighting key LGBTQ-related topics, issues, and struggles.

Eager to showcase the excellence of their homegrown cinema, many country-themed festivals are held yearly around multicultural Prague, with autumn being one of the year's busiest seasons.

Organised by the Argentine Embassy in cooperation with the Lucerna, Cino Argentino is back for its 14th edition this year, seeking to build bridges between Czech and Argentine cultures from October 10-14. Right afterwards, and held in Lucerna, Edison Filmhub, and Ponrepo on October 15-19, Das Filmfest will screen a selection of German-speaking films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland before heading to various other Czech cities.

Later next month from October 30 to November 2, Kino Světozor will for a few days live to the rhythm, beats and colors of Bollywood. The Indian Film Festival will present a carefully curated selection of Indian movies, both new releases and older classics, and offer dance lessons and performances throughout.

The creative brainchild of Portuguese students in Prague, this year’s Kino Brasil Film Festival will be held on November 20-30, along with an accompanying program of Brazilian music and dance lessons, lectures, debates, parties or food tasting.

And finally, while the dates and program haven’t been revealed yet, the Aussie & Kiwie Film Fest should hold another event in November to showcase to audiences the gems of the lesser-known cinema from Australia and New Zealand.

There’s also a lot happening outside of those well-established film fests.

Don’t miss the biggest and most anticipated release of the year: Franz, the new biographical drama about Kafka by award-winning Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, comes out in Czech cinemas this week after having its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival at the start of September. You can catch English-friendly screenings at Kino Světozor.

Meanwhile, Edison Filmhub keeps up its insightful and entertaining weekly cycle of Movie Barf Mondays, special screenings followed by a discussion with some of the cinema’s regular guests. In October, the schedule includes the Czech Vietnamese breakthrough film Summer School, 2001, with the director, the little-known and bizarre Dogma, or the cult Fifth Element.

Kino Aero is also continuing its popular cycle Some Like it Czech, with English-friendly sets of cult Czech movies, starting with The Ride this very Thursday, Jan Sverak’s classic 1994 Czech road movie. The well-known Žižkov venue also regularly screens classic international movies throughout the month – including The Virgin Suicides or Autumn Sonata in October – and is also back with its shockproof film cycle of “low-brow, bad taste, trash and fun” movies very much out of the mainstream.

Those who enjoy the mixing of arts and genres may head to silent movie screenings accompanied by live music organized in several cinemas around Prague, including Edison Filmhub (Metropolis, Nosferatu) or Kino Atlas (Faust, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari).

In a slightly different vein, the beautiful boutique Kino Přítomnost is a great place to watch broadcast National Theatre performances, including Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch, A Streetcar Named Desire led by Gillian Anderson, Vanessa Kirby, and Ben Foster, or Fleabag with the inimitable Phoebe Waller-Bridge.