True Story

Nicole Jennifer Adelman talks with Kumjana Novakova about her new powerful film - Silence of Reason. The film focuses on one case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, known as the Foča Rape Camps trial.

Silence of Reason celebrates the strength of the women survivors and amplifies their voices. 

Listen to the latest True Story episode and learn how significant was the court case in the fight against sexual slavery, violence against women and war crimes, and what led Kumjana to work on such a hard but important topic.

Listen an interview with Alisa Kovalenko and Stephane Siohan, the producer and director of the documentary We Will Not Fade Away. 

This film focuses on a group of teenagers from the Donbas region of Ukraine as they train to go on an expedition of the Himalayas. Kovalenko and Siohan talk about the devastation caused by the full scale invasion of Ukraine, how the meaning of the film has changed since the invasion, and the role of art in times of war.

Eluned Zoë Aiano and Alesandra Tatić discuss in our podcast their approach as filmmakers, based on the bonds of intimacy and trust established with the protagonists over the years.

Throughout the filming process of the film Flotacija, the directors have strived to portray the protagonists and their culture in an ethical and respectful manner, while also showing how the privatization of the mine and real estate has affected their lives.

The story of the film started almost 9 years ago, initially focused on the topic of dragon hunting in the Serbian Vlach community. As filmmakers grew closer to the protagonists, they realized that the people of Majdanpek themselves and the social context they are embedded in are what truly make the situation interesting and relevant to the wider world.

“Flotacija”, in English literally “froth flotation”, is a process used in industrial mining to separate minerals from ore, which produces otherworldly black bubbles that simmer in pits.

With director Ana Maria Vijdea about her short documentary film May the Earth Become the Sky, portrait of 48-years old woman who is trapped between two worlds, awarded by the Institute of Documentary Film at Ji.hlava IDFF 2022.  The interview was conducted by Ivona Remundová.

With Piotr Rosołowski, co-director of The Hamlet Syndrome, about a generation of Ukrainians confronting their war trauma and tackling the painful past.

With director Kateryna Ruzhyna about her short documentary Avitaminosis, a self-portrait of a young Ukrainian filmmaker searching for liberation in Georgia, awarded by the Institute of Documentary Film at Ji.hlava IDFF 2022.

Director Ivo Bystřičan talks about the "field-recording" of his film Invisible Landscapes in which he focuses on "future critical infrastructure and breaking points through sound".

With director Tomáš Kratochvíl about his new film Pongo Calling about Štefan Pongo, a Roma lorry driver.