The work of CaSFFA is largely conducted on the Kulin nation’s unceded lands, including the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung peoples and the Yorta Yorta nation. Many of you will likely be experiencing CaSFFA 2024 from Naarm or Kaurna lands. Wherever we are located, we pay our respects to all Elders past, present, and emerging and recognise these peoples as part of the oldest continuous culture in the world.
Welcome to the 12th edition of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia, which happily returns to Melbourne and Adelaide.
This year’s program is guided by the theme of “Labyrinth.” Unlike a maze containing many forks and dead ends, a labyrinth has a single continuous path. Walking this mythic track, one slowly moves towards the centre of a thing. The winding labyrinth of our 12th year is not a path of one kind — we follow the dark and twisted trail, visit paths decorated with magic, ones built by love, and paths dizzyingly unbalanced. What draws these trails together is the sense that one can get both lost and found in Czech and Slovak cinema.
Appropriately, our line-up this year diverges into 25+ films of all types: a combination of features and shorts, with some leading us in the direction of the art house, and others to the mainstream. We present debut films by new filmmakers, together with the latest films by old CaSFFA favourites. We walk into the world of fiction, follow the path of non-fiction, and traverse the zones of animation and experimentation. We continue this year our close partnership with the Melbourne Cinémathèque, presenting at ACMI a treasured retrospective of Jiřì Menzel, one of the great New Wave filmmakers.
Whether you’re in Melbourne or Adelaide, the CaSFFA team encourages you to follow the path to the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia and we hope you will find your place among this year’s varied line-up. Lose yourself in the program to then emerge from the labyrinth having both learned something new and felt very deeply.
Artistic Director | Alexander Back
To showcase, celebrate and promote a contextualised range of classic and modern Czech and Slovak live-action and animated films to Australasian and expatriate audiences through a yearly, not-for-profit arts festival.
To encourage active participation in and from the Czech and Slovak communities for the advancement of their culture in Australasia.
To cultivate mutually beneficial partnerships with Czech, Slovak and local businesses and cultural organisations.
The Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia (CaSFFA) is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to showcasing the best films from the Czech and Slovak Republics and former Czechoslovakia. Founded in 2011 by Cerise Howard, Brendon Black, Linda Studena, Katrina Wilson O’Brien and Denisa Cross, the festival has run tenth editions in Melbourne and festivals in Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Australia-wide online. CaSFFA welcomes all audiences and considers itself more than just a regular film festival, having screened silent films accompanied by scores on the Melbourne Town Hall organ, Coburg Drive-In, artistic and historical exhibitions, and children’s events. We are also a source of news and information on Czech and Slovak films relevant to Australian audiences, so please sign up for our mailing list and follow us on our socials to keep in touch.
Executive Team | Ioana-Lucia Demczuk | Caroline Ondracek | Denisa Cross
Team CASFFA
Artistic Director | Alexander Back
Operations Manager | Ioana-Lucia Demczuk
Finance Manager | Denisa Cross
Association Secretary | Caroline Ondracek
Marketing & Brand Manager | Vera Morgan
IT and Technical Production | L’ubica Shannon | Jacob Agius | Lilliana Hajncl
Philanthropy, Grants & Sponsorship | L’ubica Shannon | Denisa Cross | Vera Morgan | Lilliana Hajncl
PR & Publicity | Petra Tomecko | Amelia Leonard | Vera Morgan | Ioana-Lucia Demczuk
Community Liaison | Denisa Cross | L’ubica Shannon | Vera Morgan | Petra Tomecko | Danka Tomecko
Program Consultants | Jacob Agius | Amelia Leonard | Denisa Cross
Next Wave Curators | Jacob Agius | Amelia Leonard
Student Interns | Clair Seoud | Drew Baker
Festival Trailer | Sense
CaSFFA functions with collaborative involvement across all roles.
Adriana Tuček, Alexandra Hroncová, Anna Krupnova, Barbora Lochmanová, Benjamin McCann, Benji Tamir, Bérénice Hahn, Bianca Pradolin, Brendan Black, Cerise Howard, Clair Seoud, Daniel Weller, Denisa Cochran, Drew Baker, Ellyn Cenochova, Erika Paulinska, H.E. Jana Tyrer, Idris Williams, Igal Hodirker, Indra Adams, Ivana Hucíková, Jeremy Whiteside, John Zika, Joja Datko, Jonathan Shannon, Karolína Hrichová, Katrina Wilson O’Brien, Lea Pagáčová, Lenka Allen, Líba from CaterME, Linda Studená, Liptár Dance Group, Lisa Safi, Luba Majerik, Lucia Mižáková, Lucie Skaife, Lucia Slavkay Řeháková, Ludmila Chudil, Maree Raftis, Marek Koutesh, Margareta Velichova Rebelos, Marissa Payne, Marika Drienikova, Marta a Matej Šútora, Marta and Jozef Rusin, Marta Kapusta, Martin Kabáč, Martin Machýček, Martina Povolní, Matěj Paclík, Michala Svojsova, Mira Fornay, Miroslav Koman, Missy Kesseler, Nataša Slavíková, Niklas Teng, Nikoleta Tomecko, Nora Kovarčíková, Okan Safi, Ondrej Beck, Ondřej Hovádek, Patrik Tomecko, Pavel Tomecko, Peter Denison, Peter Hošták, Simona Kadrnkova, Soňa Tomecko, Sophie Bergogne, Stanya Jurčiová, Steve Virgo, Sylvia Melis, Tereza Lee, The Vaculik Family, The Zika Family, Tom Danby, Tomás Pertold, Vanessa Tuček, Vardos Trio, Veronika Tobolová, Veronika Warren, VodaFest, Zuzana Slováková, Zuzana Vasitch
and all our FABULOUS PARTNERS, GENEROUS SPONSORS and WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS.
