Liberec is hosting the International Sports Film Festival for the 27th year, and for the first time, the main program will take place in the Liebieg Palace. Sports stars such as Gabriela Soukalová, Karlos Vémola, Eva Adamczyková, Michal Maroši, and others will personally present their films. But it won’t just be about films. The accompanying program, designed for the whole family, focuses on connecting culture and sport. The festival will offer sports activities, discussions with directors, art exhibitions, ceramic and art workshops, a game zone, and many other surprises.

This year, 366 films from 77 countries were submitted to the festival's competition, with 70 selected for the main competition and 34 ultimately judged by the jury. Besides Czech athletes, sports film fans will have the chance to watch international films featuring stars such as tennis players the Williams sisters, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, basketball player Rudy Gobert, and hurdler Edwin Moses.

How can you get a festival pass for the entire four-day program for 400 CZK? Passes with the complete program and the option to reserve seats for individual films are available at PROGRAMME. Entry is free for children and students, as the goal of the festival is to motivate the youngest generation to be active. Additionally, anyone who purchases a full festival pass will be entered into a raffle for a trip to Egypt with Blue Style travel agency and an Author brand bicycle. Passes can also be purchased at the Festival Center in the Clarion Grandhotel Zlatý Lev, where the main film screenings will take place in the grand hall, presented by athletes and filmmakers, such as the film Her Body. The venue will also host a live podcast Bomby k tyči with hockey player Pavel Francouz, as well as the presentation of the Ondřej Sekora Award for the best sports journalists.

The real sports circus, however, will be happening at the Liebieg Palace complex. There, you’ll find several exhibitions and screening locations, and the palace gardens will be bustling with sports activities for both children and adults. In the Johan Gallery within the palace, there will be a unique exhibition titled Sport Through the Eyes of Artists, featuring painter Marek Lavko with his portraits of sports stars and artist Ivana Štenclová with a new 3D portrait of Věra Čáslavská. Additionally, there will be an exhibition of sports film posters that have won the American Oscar. Large-scale photographs from the 2024 Paris Olympics will be displayed outside the palace.

Other screening locations include the RoSa Residence and the Jedlička Institute, but the greatest interest among younger attendees is expected at Club Lípa, where the entire festival will officially kick off on the evening of Thursday, October 3rd. The highlight will be the premiere screening of the film Karlos, with Karlos Vémola and the filmmakers in attendance.

Alongside entertainment, the topic of mental health will also come into focus during the conference "Mental Health: Children's Safety in Sports," moderated by skier Šárka Strachová, who will invite some very interesting guests. The festival's highlight is traditionally the Saturday gala evening with the official awards ceremony for the creators of the winning films. After two years, Petr Svěcený returns to host the gala, with direction handled by Vojtěch Nouzák. Filming for Czech Television is once again provided by the Liberec-based video production company Fullart Studio.