SPORTFILM LIBEREC 2026: SPORT, FILM AND THE OLYMPIC LEGACY

The 29th edition of the international festival will feature a record number of films, international premieres, star guests and a programme dedicated to mental health.

The international sports film festival Sportfilm Liberec is entering its 29th edition. From 30 September to 4 October 2026, audiences can look forward to dozens of Czech and international films, discussions, exhibitions, a mental health conference, and encounters with leading figures from the worlds of sport and film. This year’s festival thematically follows on from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“This year, we received a record 490 film submissions from 94 countries around the world. From 50 selected films, our expert jury will choose the award winners,” says festival director Renata Balašová. Films compete in the following categories: Olympic Ideas, Documentaries, Sports Personalities, Feature Films and Series, Society and Education, and Czech Scene. The winning films will subsequently advance to the FICTS World Challenge world finals in Milan.

The festival will open on 30 September at Kino 35 at the French Institute in Prague with the premiere of the French film Držíš mě nad vodou. The programme will then move to Liberec and Vratislavice nad Nisou. Highlights will include the premiere of the Belgian-German film Heysel 85 and the premiere of the documentary Alberto Tomba: Cesta vítěze about the legendary Italian skier. The festival will culminate on 3 October with a gala evening at the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, which will be broadcast by the festival’s new general media partner, Prima Sport.

“With this sports channel, we want to entertain and engage viewers while showing them sport from a different perspective. Sports films and documentaries offer a great opportunity to present famous personalities and sporting idols from a new, often more personal angle. We therefore see our partnership with the Sportfilm festival as a natural step. We are proud to have joined forces and believe that this partnership will help the festival reach an even wider audience,” says Pavel Skořepa, Editor-in-Chief of Prima Sport, commenting on the new partnership.

Among the highlights of this year’s programme are Neporazitelní, the biographical drama Nepela, and the documentary series Bohyně Slavie and Big Pete, featuring Petr Čech.

The festival will conclude at Kino Radnice in Jablonec nad Nisou. The City of Jablonec has been a festival partner for the second year running. “What motivated us to continue our partnership was last year’s sold-out screening of Jemný rváč with Lukáš Krpálek and the wonderful atmosphere it created. Sports films also show young audiences how much dedication it takes to succeed and how much joy sport can bring. I am delighted that we are part of the festival again this year,” says Deputy Mayor Jana Hamplová.

Adolf Zika, director of last year’s winning film, adds: “Thanks to the premiere of Jemný rváč at the opening of Sportfilm 2025, we received tremendous media exposure, and winning the festival gave us such visibility that we benefited from it throughout the entire year. Lukáš Krpálek even attended seven Sportfilm festival encore events across the Czech Republic during the year.”

Sportfilm, however, is much more than a film showcase. Once again, this year’s cultural programme brings together sport, art and the history of the Olympic movement. The new exhibition Olympic Posters 1924–2026 will present all 26 Winter Olympic Games posters, from Chamonix to Milano Cortina. They will be complemented by posters from Oscar-winning sports films.

Another major part of the festival will be the Mental Health: Identity conference, focusing on mental resilience, the balance between a sporting career and personal life, and the question of who we are when sport is no longer the sole definition of our identity. The conference is aimed primarily at students and will be moderated by former alpine skier and mental coach Šárka Strachová.

The importance of connecting sport, culture and work with the younger generation is also highlighted by Liberec Deputy Mayor Adam Lenert: “Sport and culture naturally belong together, and I am pleased to see the festival improving in quality and expanding its programme year after year. The city has long supported sport and physical literacy, which is why I appreciate Sportfilm’s ability to reach young audiences through sports films and inspire them to be physically active.”

Jitka Skalická, Liberec Region Councillor for Education and Sport, adds: “We see Sportfilm as a well-established and respected brand whose 29th edition confirms its strong position among the region’s major cultural and sporting events. We also greatly value the festival’s outreach to schools across the Liberec Region, which we are pleased to support.”

At the same time, the festival is increasingly reaching audiences beyond Liberec. This year, the Sportfilm Festival Echoes will feature a record 17 one-day events across the Czech Republic, with attendance already reaching 10,000 viewers. For the first time, the Festival Echoes will also travel to Warsaw, Poland, while selected films will be broadcast on Prima Sport throughout the year.

In its 29th edition, Sportfilm Liberec once again demonstrates that sports films are not only about victories and medals. Above all, they are about people – their stories, courage, setbacks, comebacks and values that reach far beyond the world of sport.

Jury of Leading Personalities

This year’s expert jury will include documentary filmmaker Markéta Ekrt Válková (Mára jde do nebe), Czech Television dramaturge Martin Novosad (Případ Modrý), directors Radim Špaček (Zlatý podraz) and Adolf Zika (Jemný rváč, the Sportfilm 2026 winning film about judoka Lukáš Krpálek), PR manager Gabriela Vágner, festival director Renata Balašová, and jury chairman Zdeněk Škoda of the Czech Olympic Academy.