Project title:
Four countries, one heritage – Jewish short films in the Visegrad region

Partners:

• The Camera of David Foundation WJFF.PL 
• Jewish Community Center Prague (JCC Prague) 
• TACHLES

Art, including cinematography, is unquestionably among the best channels to connect people to realities different from their own, and through it, spark their curiosity, expand their horizons and foster an appreciation of both similarities and differences that exist between us. The project „Four countries, one heritage – Jewish short films in the Visegrad region” aims to take steps in filling the void that currently exists between Jewish filmmakers and cinephile audiences of the Visegrad countries. The project wishes to promote the shared heritage and numerous cultural ties between the Jewish communities of the Visegrad counties by acquainting movie enthusiasts and film students with valuable Jewish-themed short films created in the Visegrad countries, and to foster the emergence of personal and professional connections between film students and filmmakers of the region.

First, a Committee of Curators will select four from all the Jewish-themed short films created in the Visegrad countries in the past five years, which will then be screened in the V4 capitals. The screenings will be directly followed by expert discussions, and shortly after, by an in-person seminar in Budapest where film school students from each country will have the chance to have an inspiring panel discussion with the creators of the four short films.

Project Partners

• The Camera of David Foundation WJFF.PL – website 
  Warsaw Jewish Film Festival (WJFF) is the first ever and the largest Jewish Film Festival in Poland.Established in 2003, it has 19 years of experience acquiring some of the finest international, thematically Jewish, films which arededicated to exploring Jewish culture, history and contemporary life of Jewish communities from around the globe. Since the first editionin 2003, WJFF has shown its audience more than 650 movies from 30 countries. Every year, short films and students’ work are animportant part of the programme, as the festival is dedicated to promoting and educating young people. Every year, short films are alsopart of the festival’s international competition. JCC Budapest has recently started collaborating with WJFF; as a result, the 2021 editionsof Budapest and Warsaw Jewish Film Festivals will include a joint short film section.
• Jewish Community Center Prague (JCC Prague) – website
  JCC Prague is a new Jewish cultural and community center that offers accessible, open to all, culturallyinspiring programs, and a space for exploring and interpreting the richness and variety of contemporary Jewish identity through themediums of culture, learning and the arts. Film is one of the mediums JCC Prague wants to explore, building on the experiences of itsdirector, Pavlína Šulcová, who co-organized several film festivals in Tel Aviv (Czech Film Week, Another Look, Kino, Haifa FilmFestival, Jerusalem Film Festival).
• TACHLES – website
  TACHLES is the only Slovak television channel that creates content focusing on Judaism and the Jewish minority. TACHLES holds itself up to high professional standards, and it aspires to bring relevant information and compelling content from a variety of fields to people from different communities across the country. In addition, TACHLES has experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships with Jewish young adults from the country.

Contact: lubeck.judit@balinthaz.hu | Judit Lübeck | +3630 316 9095

The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.