The 66th Festival Has Been Officially Unveiled!
27. February 2026
At our first press conference, we officially introduced the initial details of the 66th edition of the festival – a year that promises to be groundbreaking in many respects. Our primary ambition is to engage young audiences more intensively than ever before. This commitment will be reflected not only in the program itself, but above all in our brand-new visual identity, unveiled at the press conference by Mirek Mito, Art Director of the Brno-based agency Nestydo.
Aside from the festival’s new look, we also revealed the names of this year’s Golden Slipper Award recipients. The opening ceremony will see the statuette presented to Petr Koliha, while the closing gala evening will pay tribute to acting legend Petr Kostka. This year’s program will also be closely tied to major anniversaries: we will commemorate 100 years since the birth of screenwriter Miloš Macourek, with appearances by protagonists from his films and television series, and celebrate 90 years since the founding of the Zlín Film Studios – the cradle of our festival.
As it does every year, the festival will present outstanding international cinema across six competition sections, showcasing films that reflect childhood, adolescence, and the transformations of contemporary society. The full selection of films to be screened in our festival cinemas will be announced at the end of April.
On 10 March, we will launch the traditional Film Clapperboard Salon at the National Museum in Prague. The travelling exhibition of 120 original works will then continue to Mladá Boleslav, Liberec, Olomouc, Brno, and Zlín.
This year will also bring a major transformation to the supporting program in the area surrounding the Zlín Chateau. Our new ZLINFEST Zone will become the vibrant heart of the festival. It’s a place where the film experience does not end with the closing credits. Thanks to a new partnership with the United Islands festival, the music component of the zone will be significantly strengthened, culminating in Saturday’s Club Night.
None of this would be possible without the support of our valued partners. We are therefore delighted to welcome new brands among them this year, including Cross and Starbucks. Thanks to their involvement and the continued support of all our longstanding partners, we are able to keep moving the festival forward.
If you were unable to follow the press conference via live stream, you can watch the full recording which includes all the details at the link HERE.