Czech Skater Documentary Up Again Premieres at Ji.hlava

Up Again, a Czech documentary about teenage figure skater Barbora Vrankova, has had its world premiere at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. The film was presented as a Czech Joy entry, according to Variety.

The director, Eliska Cilkova Andrsova, filmed Vrankova for three years, from the time the skater was 15 until she turned 18. Andrsova first connected with Vrankova when the skater was the reigning Czech national figure skating champion. Andrsova is a former competitive skater herself, and she edited the film and composed its score.

The documentary follows Vrankova as she trains away from home. She works at a skating school in Italy, including the international training centre in Egna, and later travels to the United States. Some scenes were shot on the ice, with cameras moving alongside Vrankova as she skated.

The film is one of the features at the 30th Ji.hlava festival, which runs from October 23 to November 1, 2026. The programme was unveiled on October 8. The opening film, a documentary about choreographer Jiří Kylián, was announced on October 21.

The festival has a trade side too. Ji.hlava Industry, the programme for film professionals, is scheduled for October 27 to 30, so it closes today. The Inspiration Forum has announced historians David Wengrow and Lea Ypi as guests. The festival announced its first awards on October 25.

For a documentary, the festival premiere is often the first time a film meets an audience, and the first time a crowd sees how the footage was put together. Here, that means watching a teenager's three years of training from the inside, with a director who once stood on the ice herself.

The festival continues until November 1, when the programme closes.