The screenplay was selected by a three-member jury consisting of experienced directors and screenwriters Karel Smyczek, Ivan Hubač and Jiří Strach. This year, the jury received 23 applications.
The grant is intended for graduates of art schools up to the age of 35, primarily film schools (FAMU, FAMO, UTB). However, graduation from an art-focused study program is not required. The requirement is the intention to write the first screenplay for a feature film.
This year’s grant was awarded to Viktor Horák, who received 170,000 Czech crowns from DILIA for further development of his project. “The idea for the film Reunion of Countrymen has been maturing in me for years. I was born in a village in the foothills of the Krkonoše mountains, where I still return today – and it is this village, its rhythm, its people and its stories that became the starting point for the creation of this film,“ he explained.
“But Sraz rodáků is not a sentimental postcard from the countryside. It’s a sharp, truthful and bitterly entertaining journey to a place where humour and tragedy change faster than the weather on the ridges of Krkonoše Mountains,“ he adds.
“The treatment for Sraz rodáků deals in an interesting and original way with the decades-long scars of family disputes, injustices, lies and truths that are ingrained in people (characters) and that even time has been unable to erase. The number of thought-provoking perspectives offered by Viktor Horák (as well as his experience) gives hope that the material will be developed into a fully fledged screenplay,“ said Ivan Hubač, explaining the jury’s decision.
The third annual grant for the development of a film debut will be announced in 2026.