Industry Days

The BOO Festival’s Industry Days will once again be packed with workshops, networking opportunities and, last but not least, a major International Industry Forum, which will bring together numerous experts and professionals from across Europe. Guests will include representatives from renowned festivals such as Cannes, Cinekid, Uppsala, Tampere, Olympia and DOK.fest München, as well as major film institutions, including the British Film Institute (BFI), the German Film Institute & Film Museum (DFF), Slovakia’s Otvorená kultúra, Poland’s Association of Film Educators, and international projects such as Cinemini EDU and Audiovisual Connect LAB. There will also be an entertaining evening event, Work Hard, Fail Hard, focused on sharing experiences of setbacks and learning from them.

The thematic scope of Industry Days ranges from audience development, audiovisual education and audience design – extending into resilience, audiovisual literacy research, audience testing and young people’s mental health – as well as how to distribute short films and how to get a short film into Cannes!

Audience design workshops for cinema operators, producers and filmmakers will provide a unique opportunity to learn to think more about their audience – not just from a demographic perspective, but to explore the subject in greater depth. The Resilience: When Plans Go Wrong workshop for filmmakers and producers will, in turn, offer ways to learn how to remain resilient in the face of setbacks throughout one’s career and how not to let it all drive you mad. The How to Write About Short Films for Different Audiences workshop, aimed at film students, will focus on writing about short films in a festival context.

And that’s not all! We’ll be publishing more information about the full Industry Days programme soon!

To attend any Industry Days event, valid Industry accreditation and confirmed registration are required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

As a little taster of what awaits you at Industry Days, there will be another edition of Speed Networking, taking place on October 13 at Kino Kavalírka.

Speed Networking

October 13, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Kino Kavalírka

Even before BOO begins, we’ve organised another Speed Networking event for you, where you’ll have the chance to have fun and meet women from various film professions. During these short, dynamic sessions, you’ll quickly get to know each participant. Speed Networking is aimed primarily at women, but everyone is welcome!

Are you looking for female colleagues to join your team, do you want to present your new project, or do you simply want to make new connections? Then come and meet your future collaborators and introduce yourself or your project to others!

Capacity is limited, so we recommend registering early.

If you’re interested in taking part, please complete the registration form by October 5. Please wait for confirmation of your registration. If you have any questions, please email industry@boofest.cz.

Workshop: How to Write About Short Films for Different Audiences

November 2–11, Kino Kavalírka, Komunitní prostor Smíchov

The workshop is aimed at film studies students and will focus on how to write about festival programmes and short film sections for different target audiences. The workshop includes developing skills in film criticism and reflection, specifically with regard to short films. Participants will be introduced to various formats for writing about film and will learn how to write about festival programmes and short film sections for different target audiences. The workshop will be led by film critic and cultural journalist Pavel Sladký.

The workshop is structured over several days:

November 2: an introductory session with the tutor, during which the basic formats and working methods will be presented
November 3–6: during the festival, students will attend screenings of short films, special programmes and the International Industry Forum, as well as a seminar at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, featuring special guest Gregory Coutaut (Semaine de la critique, Cannes)
November 7–10: students will work on their texts
November 11: the final part of the workshop focusing on sharing experiences, joint reflection and evaluation with the tutor

Pavel Sladký studied Czech Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. He collaborates with Czech Radio and publishes articles in magazines such as Cinepur and Film a doba, as well as on Aktuálně.cz and ČTart.cz. He also produces a podcast on cinematography for Film a doba. He is a member of the Association of Czech Film Critics and the international federation FIPRESCI, and works with Czech film festivals as a programme curator and masterclass presenter. He is the author of the book Film is a Secret Door to Reality: 10 Essential Contemporary Directors – Portraits and Interviews.

The workshop will be held in Czech and is intended for film students. The number of places is limited. Participants will receive Industry accreditation for the entire festival.

If you are interested in taking part, please complete the registration form by October 9 and wait for a confirmation email.

Workshop: Resilience: When Plans Go Wrong

November 4, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Kino Kavalírka

What happens when a film you believed in fails to find an audience? When funding falls through, the project isn’t selected, or your career takes a completely different turn from what you’d imagined?

A career in film is full of uncertainty. Behind every premiere, sales deal, award or other career milestone lie stories of projects that didn’t work out, missed opportunities and unfulfilled expectations. Moments of doubt, exhaustion and failure.

This workshop invites filmmakers and industry professionals to share the experiences that don’t usually feature in press kits and to explore what happened next. We’ll share stories and discuss strategies – useful, pointless, random or whatever – that have helped us cope with internal and external pressures, the political climate, burnout and other unpleasantries that come with the film industry.

We had a plan, but reality had other ideas. And it seems that’s just the way it is. So bring along a story, a failure, a frustration or simply your curiosity, and let’s have a chat about how to find meaning amidst all this chaos.

The workshop will be led by Vincent Förster – filmmaker, programme manager for short films at Berlinale Generation, consultant for the European Documentary Association (DAE), curator and member of the selection committees for the Filmfest Dresden and Kurzfilmtage Winterthur festivals.

The workshop will be held in English and is aimed at filmmakers and producers. To attend the event, valid Industry accreditation is required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

Industry Networking: Focused on Czechia and Germany

November 5, Kino Kavalírka

Industry Networking is open to anyone working in the film and audiovisual industry. To kick things off, Czech and German festival guests will introduce themselves with a short pitch, providing a starting point for further informal discussions over drinks.

To attend the event, valid Industry accreditation and confirmed registration are required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

International Industry Forum

November 6, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Komunitní prostor Smíchov

We invite all professionals from the film and audiovisual sectors to take part in the largest international industry programme in the Czech Republic, focusing on audience development, audiovisual education, young people’s mental health, short films, audience testing, audiovisual literacy and cultural resilience.

The event will feature a number of experts from across Europe, who will discuss how to get a film into the most prestigious film festival in Cannes; the collaboration between cinemas, the festival and the British Film Institute (BFI) as part of the national Film Audience Network; the links between mental health, emotions and film education, the specialisation of their film festivals, the distribution of short films for adults and children in Germany, why it is important to begin film education in the early stages of childhood, audience testing of film and TV series projects for children and young people, and projects such as Cinemini EDU, Audiovisual Connect LAB and the Plan for Cultural Resilience and Recovery in Slovakia.

Among the first confirmed guests are Gregory Coutaut (Cannes International Film Festival), Chloë van Baar (Cinekid Festival), Jukka-Pekka Laakso (Tampere Film Festival), Sigrid Hadenius (Uppsala Short Film Festival), Kathi Seemann (DOK.fest München), Kirsten Geekie (BFI), Francesca Balej (Open Culture), Lara Kuom (DOXS-RUHR), Pantelis Panteloglou (Olympia International Festival for Children and Young Audiences), Christine Kopf and Samira Jakobi (German Film Institute & DFF Film Museum).

Moderator: Barbora Kucsa Prágerová (Director of the Metro 70 cinema in Prostějov and Vice-Chair of the Association of Cinema Operators)

Further names and details regarding the forum’s programme will be announced shortly!

How will the forum be structured?

The programme will begin with joint introductory presentations for all participants. Afterwards, everyone will be able to create their own programme from a selection of parallel thematic round-table discussions designed for smaller groups. This unique interactive format will allow you to actively engage in the discussions.

The International Industry Forum will be held in English and is aimed at representatives from across the film and audiovisual industry.

To attend the event, valid Industry accreditation and confirmed registration are required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

Workshop: Audience Design for Producers and Creators

November 6, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Komunitní prostor Smíchov

The workshop is part of the Visegrad Audiovisual Literacy Day.

Who might be interested in your film – and how can you reach these people even before the film is finished?

In this practical workshop, we will explore ‘Audience Design’ as a creative and strategic process that begins as early as the development phase – not just when the film is ready for release. Following an introduction to this methodology, we will work with practical tools to identify potential audiences, define what makes the project unique, and translate its themes, emotions and strengths into clear and accessible communication.

The workshop will focus in particular on what filmmakers and producers can do during the development phase, from the perspective of PR, marketing and social media. You’ll try out selected tools on your own project and take away practical ideas that can help you throughout the entire filming process.

The workshop will be led by Monika Luczyk – a freelance PR and marketing manager specialising in film promotion and Audience Design. She develops communication strategies and coordinates PR campaigns for feature films and television series, working with production companies, distributors and festivals. She is a graduate of the EAVE marketing workshop and the Audience Design Lab, and also lectures on film promotion at the Warsaw Film School.

Between 2019 and 2025, she worked with the production company Shipsboy, where she was responsible for PR and marketing, social media communications and the coordination of festival distribution for film projects. She currently works as a freelance consultant in PR and marketing. Her recent projects include coordinating PR for CANAL+ Poland’s TV series productions, the feature-length documentary The Current (premiering at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival in 2026), the feature-length film What Belongs To Others (premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2026), and social media campaigns for the short films Kontrewers and A Short Film About War.

The workshop will be held in English. If you are interested in taking part, please complete the form HERE by October 9. To attend the event, valid Industry accreditation is required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

Capacity is limited, so we recommend registering early. If you have any questions, please email industry@boofest.cz.

Workshop: Audience Design for Cinema Operators

November 6, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Komunitní prostor Smíchov

The workshop is part of the Visegrad Audiovisual Literacy Day and will focus on how a cinema’s film and accompanying programme can be tailored to its audience, how this can be taken into account during the programming phase, and what data can be obtained about cinema-goers and how to use it.

The workshop will be led by Daniel Vadocký – head of the sales department at the German company Pluto Films, which specialises in international sales, distribution and audience design. In the past, he worked as a film programmer at the Art Film Fest International Film Festival and later as a film coordinator at the Bratislava International Film Festival in Slovakia. Between 2013 and 2016, he headed the sales department at the National Film Archive in Prague and subsequently continued as a sales and festival representative for Negativ Film Productions.

The workshop will be held in Czech. Registration is open until October 9. To attend the event, valid Industry accreditation is required. You can find information on how to obtain Industry accreditation HERE.

Capacity is limited, so we recommend registering early. If you have any questions, please email industry@boofest.cz.

Meeting between POOK and representatives of audiovisual associations

November 6, Komunitní prostor Smíchov

A closed discussion between representatives of the Plan for Cultural Resilience and Recovery in Slovakia (POOK), Francesca Balej, and representatives of Czech audiovisual associations on the topic of cultural resilience.

Closed event.

Work Hard, Fail Hard

November 6, Kino Kavalírka

How does it happen that something goes wrong? And what if it goes very wrong? And what if we can (perhaps) learn from it? Each speaker has 10 minutes to talk about their failure. These stories of failure are intended to offer encouragement and show that when something goes wrong, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world. The evening’s guests – prominent figures from the Czech audiovisual scene – will, with a healthy dose of humour and self-reflection, recount situations and moments when they were on the verge of giving up, but ultimately took lessons from them to apply to their future work and rose from the ashes. We highly recommend this event to everyone in the film industry and the wider public.

The programme is part of Visegrad Audiovisual Literacy Day. We’ll be publishing more information soon!