About the festival

The ELBE DOCK International Film Festival is a competitive showcase of the best short films (fiction, animation, documentary and experimental) from Central Europe and from 2024 also from Scandinavia. Closely linked to the festival is the Pavel Koutecký Award, which is given to the best Czech documentary first or second film by a filmmaker, both in the feature and short film sections. The competition programme is regularly complemented by a selection of the most interesting European feature debuts and other strange and less strange accompanying programmes. For students, the festival offers special educational workshops and discussions with experts.

One of the main goals of the festival is also to connect Czech and German culture and to promote Central European dialogue in the field of audiovisual production. Setting ELBE DOCK in the German Saxony and the Czech Ústí nad Labem region and Prague is intended to stimulate the development of cultural infrastructure and film audiences in a border industrial area that has long been neglected in this respect. The partnership with Germany brings another dimension of international cooperation to the festival, which has the potential to mutually inspire cultural events in both regions in the long term.

As part of its programme in Dresden, the festival deepens awareness of Czech work abroad. The festival also presents current German films and tries to involve local residents and local artists in its rich accompanying programme, opening up unconventional spaces and introducing the general public to the world of film.