AFO has announced it’s winners. Over 8,000 science and film fans attended the festival
The Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) international popular science film festival, organised by Palacký University, has just come to an end. Since April 28, it has literally energised the entire city and attracted over 8,000 visitors. Filmmakers from around the world visited Olomouc, and the public had a unique opportunity to see documentaries that best reflect current trends in how scientific research is popularised in today’s audiovisual media.
For 61 years, AFO has been presenting science as a natural part of life. This year, 600 titles were submitted to the festival under the theme “A Common Ground.” Sixty-one documentaries competed for the original prize—a kaleidoscope by glassmaker Martin Hlubuček.
“It was wonderful to see how our ideas and plans became reality, such as the experiment with the spring cinema on Horní náměstí, whose screenings were ultimately a great success with our visitors. I am also incredibly happy that completed films that once went through our workshop for film professionals are returning to the festival, and that these films are so good they are winning awards from international juries and the audience itself. “And of course, I’d like to thank the entire AFO team, which this year consisted of over 350 people—it’s a joy to watch the fantastic work they do, with such passion and enthusiasm,” said AFO Director Eva Navrátilová.
A Special Mention goes to the film Sešlo z očí (Out of Plain Sight), whose creators follow an investigative case involving the dumping of toxic nuclear waste on the California coast. As part of the Science Communication Awards, the jury awarded the prize to the film Phenomena: When Elements Dance (Phenomena). It explores the world of chemical reactions and invisible physical phenomena, vividly demonstrating how the film medium can bring us closer to what we wouldn’t otherwise have full access to. Australian filmmaker and director Josef Gatti was not at AFO for the first time; in the past, he participated in the festival’s gathering for creators—Camp 4Science.
“I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to return to AFO and take home two awards. It means a lot to me; I share your vision of what science should look like. It’s truly wonderful that this festival exists. “I’ll probably use the prize money to buy a microscope so I can film smaller forms of life,” said the filmmaker, who succeeded at AFO this year with his feature-length debut.
Written by Martina Vysloužilová, Tomáš Poštulka
Monday 4 May 2026