The International Ecumenical Jury “The right jacket, but the wrong shoes”
13. June 2024
“Weren't we the judges with the highest gentlemanly level?”, the Ecumenical Jury wants to know. That sounds plausible with a jury member who dreams of being James Bond. And oh yes... the question of who they would ask out on a date was answered more honestly than by any other jury.
In this jury are Stanislav Zeman (Czech Republic, former filmmaker and current PR person for the Church), Iva Folajtárova (Czech Republic, coordinator of the Salvation Army & artist) and Lars Obel (Denmark, pastor and involved in the association for Church & Film and the Ecumenical Council).
Let's check how good you got to know each other. Who has been drinking the most?
Stanislav Zeman: Nobody. We behaved very decently.
Who has been talking the most?
Zeman: It depends. Each of us in our own way, I think.
Who fell asleep the most during screenings?
Lars Obel: We have been for the first time in this festival and we took things very seriously. I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep.
Any impressions you want to share on the city of Zlin?
Iva Folajtárova: I like the inscriptions on the buildings that help you to orientate in the city.
Zeman: It’s like a public art collection in the ‘functionalism’ style, with a great unity in colours that you rarely get to see in a city.
Obel: The city is an experiment from the corporate world in the early 20th century, built upon shoes and film.
Can you say something about shoes? How is your relationship with footwear?
Folajtárova: Not so good. I care about my clothes, but then shoes are often the last element to get my attention. Maybe it should be the other way around.
Zeman: I’ve been told that somebody who’s faking to be a nobleman might often be wearing the right jacket, but the wrong shoes. Shoes truly mark the people with good taste.
Obel: I have way too many shoes.
What do the films in the festival tell you about the filmmakers of today?
Folajtárova: ‘Human rights’ was a topic that almost all films had in common, which I really appreciated-. This emphasises the importance of togetherness, of friendship and belonging to a community.
Obel: That seems totally in touch with the times we live in.
Can you describe a fellow jury member in one sentence?
Zeman: Iva Folajtárova is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci, practising at least five different branches of art, like a true renaissance person.
Folajtárova: Lars is a powerful figure in the Danish church, a real big boss.
Obel: Stanislav is a very competent representative of the Catholic church.
Which mature character from a film in your selection would you like to get to know better and maybe even ask out on a date?
Zeman: If my wife permits, I would like to get to know more about Ziba from LAST SWIM (UK). She was very pretty, intelligent, and had a great sense of humour.
Folajtárova: I appreciated the amount of female characters, but the men in LAST SWIM looked rather handsome.
Obel: The teacher’s wife in WINNERS (Germany) was very sympathetic and pretty.
Pick one director that you think should once make or have made a children's film.
Obel: Lars von Trier.
Folajtárova: Terrence Malick.
Zeman: Woody Allen.
Which film have you seen in the festival that made you laugh out loud or cry out loud?
Obel: THREE ROBBERS AND A LION (Norway) was one of my childhood books, and Rasmus Sivertsen’s interpretation really made me laugh.
Zeman: The witty, intelligent dialogues in UPROAR (New-Zealand) made me laugh several times. And I shed a tear with LARS IS LOL (Norway).
Folajtárova: Exactly the same for me, UPROAR and LARS IS LOL.
Who's your favourite character in film history, one that you find particularly inspiring?
Obel: We can answer this one all together. One, two, three… Jesus Christ.
Zeman: It’s impossible to beat this response, so I’ll give you a very non-ecumenical answer. It may not sound suitable for this jury but I really like James Bond.
Folajtárova: I thought about Bella from POOR THINGS.
Could you imagine yourself having a parallel career?
Obel: Screenwriter.
Folajtárova: I already have one, as I’m also an artist.
Zeman: Before I went to the Film Academy I studied psychology; I sometimes miss being a psychologist.
Which topic would you like to see addressed in young audience cinema today?
Obel: We can make a radical change in how our world is governed. Cinema can help us find new ways to think about the environment, capitalism, etc.
Folajtárova: All those films about strong females solving their own problems, that was brilliant. I wish it was like that in every segment of the film sector.
Zeman: I wish the attention would shift from celebrities towards people who really make a change in this world. Films could set that example.
Which role from film history would you have liked to play as an actor / actress?
Zeman: Even more than James Bond, I would have enjoyed playing Jake in AVATAR, who discovered the planet Pandora.
Folajtárova: For me that would be the main character in 8 1/2 by Fellini, but I would make it a female character.
Obel: I'd like to be Prince Hamlet.
Would you have a last message for the festival organisers?
Obel: They're doing a great job, making us all feel very welcome.
Folajtárova: It was all very nicely organised.
Zeman: I appreciate the high standards maintained by the programming team, offering us nothing but quality. I hope the festival will continue like this.