The Czech & Slovak Film Festival of Australia (CaSFFA) celebrates and promotes a contextualised range of classic and modern Czech and Slovak live-action and animated films to Australian and expatriate audiences through a yearly, not-for-profit arts festival.
The origins of CaSFFA were simple. A group of lifelong cinephiles dreamed of bringing the cinema of the Czech and Slovak Republics to the people of Australia and resolved to make this dream a reality.
In just five years the festival has grown into a major cultural event held in Melbourne and Canberra’s most prestigious venues, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the National Film and Sound Archive, and is partnering with the Queensland Film Festival for the second year in Brisbane.
CaSFFA began in Melbourne in 2013. In this, its 6th year, the theme across screenings in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane, is SPRING.
Spring references new beginnings and acknowledges the 50 year anniversary of the PRAGUE SPRING, the 100 year anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia and the 25th anniversary of the VELVET DIVORCE, out of which peacefully emerged Czechia and Slovakia.
As a springtime festival in Melbourne/Canberra, CaSFFA celebrates the urban legend of the Prague Spring-Man, Pérák, a fearless fighter against fascism.
The program includes a major retrospective of the legendary Czech filmmaker Věra Chytilová, whose masterpieces DAISIES and FRUIT OF PARADISE rank among the emblematic films of the Prague Spring. We tap into the theme to celebrate all that bubbles up in the effervescent spa town of Karlovy Vary, host to the Czech Republic’s A-list international film festival.
At CaSFFA aim to deliver a cinematic and cultural experience unlike at any other film festival in Australia, featuring not just great films but also highlighting the work of Australian and international artists in exhibitions aligning with this year’s “Spring” theme.
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