SPORTFILM Liberec is an international festival dedicated to films about sport, held in the magical cities of Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou in northern Czech Republic and Prague, the capital city.
In 2026, the City of Liberec will host the festival for the 29th time. Screenings and accompanying events will take place at the modern complex Vratislavicke 101010, the Theatre F.X. Salda, and other venues across the city.
As a city of sport, Liberec offers 10 festival locations, around 70 film screenings, exhibitions, talks, lectures, a Mental Health Conference, and a Gala Evening broadcast live by Czech Television. During the gala, winning films are awarded in six categories: Personalities, Documentaries, Feature Films and Series, Olympic Ideas, Society and Education, Czech Horizon, as well as the Grand Prize and the Director’s Prize.
Each year, approximately 400 films from 70 countries are submitted, including around 20 Czech films. SPORTFILM Liberec is a competitive showcase focused on the global theme of sport. Films are presented in carefully curated dramaturgical sections, tailored to specific target groups (age, sports interests) and screened in suitable venues.
From the submitted films, the festival’s dramaturgy team selects 30 films for the competition, while additional non-competitive screenings offer a retrospective view of sports film production. The festival programme is curated by an international jury.
The aim of SPORTFILM Liberec is to present the highest-quality films as motivational and educational tools, to highlight the importance of sports film production, and to promote universal values connecting mental and physical development, sport, and society.
Throughout the year, SPORTFILM also organizes around 20 Festival Echoes in cities across the Czech Republic.
29 years long SPORTFILM FESTIVAL LIBEREC history brought thousands of great sport films and also awards for them, also at World FICTS Challende finals at Milan. In 2019, the Czech Television co-production film The Golden Sting was awarded the prestigious prize Guirlande d’Honneur and in 2021, the film Mr Kriss was awarded Guirlande d´Honneur by the jury of Milan Final. In 2022, there were amazing three prizes for Czech film finalists: Last Race, Zatopek, Jan Koller. Year 2023 film The Modry Case (Czech TV) achieved Guirlande d´Honneur and Martin Škrtel (VDN Promo) Mention d´Honneur. Last edition won Mention d¨Honneur film Gentle Brawler about olympic winner in judoka Lukas Krpalek.
The guarantor of this festival series is the Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS) joining 130 countries under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee.
The jury awards prizes in particular categories and a Grand Prize of the festival.
Categories:
Olympic Ideas
Documentaries
Sports personalities
Feature films and Series
Society and Education
Czech horizon
+ Director´s Prize
