Seven days of debates, keynote lectures, workshops, and collective reflection will once again be offered by the Ji.hlava Inspiration Forum. Across two festival weekends, we will open four themes that touch everyday life: maps, humour, corruption, and the question of how to change the rules that shape our lives.
“This year’s themes are not detached from everyday life. Every day, we navigate the world in some way, we laugh, we encounter power and rules, and we wonder why some things do not change even though we know they should. The Inspiration Forum aims to make these major topics accessible so that people with different experiences—not only experts—can take part in them. We want the festival to be both an international meeting place and a space where the voices of people from the region can be heard,” says Tereza Swadoschová, Head of the Inspiration Forum.
The first festival weekend will begin with a thematic day dedicated to maps (24 October). Not only the maps that help us find our way, but also those that shape our ideas about the world. We will discuss how maps relate to power, memory, conflict, and digital technologies. Who creates the image of the world we live in today? And are maps truly neutral representations of reality?
On Saturday, 25 October, we will open the theme of humour. Laughter can bring people together, help us endure difficult situations, and challenge authority. At the same time, it can hurt or exclude. We will ask when humour is liberating, when it becomes a tool of resistance, and why it is so important for society.
The second festival weekend will begin with the theme of corruption (30 October), which today often looks very different from an envelope of cash passed under the table. More often, it takes place through subtle rewritings of rules in favour of those who have money, connections, or influence. How do such mechanisms work? And how do they affect trust in society and democracy?
The final thematic day (31 October), will address the question of how to change the rules that shape our lives. We know more and more about the impacts of technology, economic systems, and social problems. Yet meaningful change often fails to materialise. What stands in its way? Who has the power to stop it? And where do we find the trust, courage, and cooperation needed to turn knowledge into real change?
Alongside the programme on stage, there will also be a programme without a stage, without speakers, and without an audience: Inspirational Mixer. For the fourth time, this festival format will create a space for meetings in small groups, where participants themselves bring forward the topics for discussion. These often emerge from personal experience, while opening broader social questions. It is a place where anyone can speak, regardless of profession, age, or life story—and where people truly listen.
This year’s edition will also include the third annual open poster competition. The theme is: “What Should Not Be Missing from a Good World?” Anyone can participate—with a drawing, photograph, collage, digital graphic, or text. All submissions will be exhibited online, and selected works will also be displayed during the festival at the Horácké Theatre. The competition invites people from the region to articulate what they believe belongs in a good world and what we should be addressing together.
The Inspiration Forum will take place from 23 October to 1 November 2026 as part of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. Admission to all Inspiration Forum events is included in the festival accreditation. More information about the programme and accreditation options can be found at www.ji-hlava.cz.
Come and ask questions, engage in discussion, and reflect together on the kind of world we are creating—and the kind of world we would like to live in.