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| Michalina Olszanska in I, Olga Hepnarová |
The festival, organised by the Czech Centre in London, will open with the UK premiere of I, Olga Hepnarová, which charts the life of the last Czech woman to be hanged. Female protagonists and family affairs are key themes in this year's festival, with other films featuring strong women, including FIPRESCI award winner Eva Nová, Marko Skop's drama about an ageing actress and recovering alcoholic who is fighting for a second chance, and Helena Trestikova's Doomed Beauty, a portrait of the meteoric rise and fall of interwar movie star Lida Baarova.
A young widow stands at the heart of Jiří Sádek's psychodrama The Noonday Witch, while a nurse takes centre stage in Slávek Horák's life-affirming drama Home Care.
Films exploring the family, include Eva Tomanová's Always Together - about a clan whose father decided to quit mainstream society a quarter of a century ago - and Jan Prusinovský's comedy drama The Snake Brothers, about two siblings who are trying to make ends meet.
The festival will also screen two film classics - Gustav Machaty’s avant-garde Erotikon (1929) accompanied by theremin virtuouso Lydia Kavina and pianist Thomas Ang and 1965 Foreign Language Oscar winner The Shop on the High Street by Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos.
Read more coverage of the festival here.
For more information about other aspects of the festival and to book tickets visit the official website.
