In March last year, the president of the Czech Republic was preparing to announce whether or not he would be running for re-election, and the press were ready to cover his decision. The announcement, however, was to be made at a private event at Prague Castle and no reporters were to be admitted. Filmmaker Tomáš Bojar takes us inside two newsrooms in Prague as their teams race to be the first to break the story. Breaking News is a compelling, entertaining and carefully composed observational look at journalism, “objective” reporting and the cycle of news production in the modern age.

+ Q&A with director Tomáš Bojar, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Kirsty Lang. International Premiere.

Screens with:
Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain | Sarah Boothroyd | 2006 | Canada | 6’

A revealing reflection on journalism, which is a process of editing and selecting, rather than transmitting a complete record to the public.

Supported by the Czech Centre London.

“Tomáš Bojar, born 1981, has a PhD in Politics, Law and Moral Philosophy from the Charles University in Prague. He has been active in the film industry since 2003, first as a script-writer, later also as a producer and director. Together with Rozálie Kohoutová he directed a feature-length documentary FC Roma, and recently completed the documentary series The Magnificent Five for Czech Television. He runs a small-scale production company called Cinema Arsenal.”