Czech cinema spotlight: Oscar-submitted documentary debuts in Prague

If Pigeons Turned to Gold (Kdyby se holubi proměnili ve zlato) is an intensely personal documentary filmed over five years by director Pepa Lubojacki, who turns the camera on family members struggling with alcoholism and homelessness. Combining intimate smartphone footage, family photographs, AI-generated video, and other experimental techniques, the film explores addiction across generations and the possibility of breaking the cycle.

Why watch now: The documentary won the Berlinale Documentary Film Award earlier this year and has since been selected as Czechia’s submission for the 2027 Academy Awards. If Pigeons Turned to Gold is now playing with English subtitles across Prague at Kino Světozor, Edison Filmhub, Kino Atlas, Kino Aero, Kino Lucerna and Bio Oko.

A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova (Modlitba pro Kateřinu Horovitzovou) follows a young Jewish woman facing death in a concentration camp who appears to find a path to safety after joining a group of wealthy Jewish prisoners in 1943. Adapted from Arnošt Lustig's book, the acclaimed 1965 television film depicts the cruel deception engineered by the Nazis as they attempt to extract the prisoners’ remaining wealth.

Why watch now: Winner of the international critics’ prize at Prix Italia and a top award at the Monte Carlo television festival, Antonin Moskalyk’s drama remains a powerful work of Czechoslovak Holocaust cinema. A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova screens from a 35mm print with English subtitles at Kino Ponrepo on Sept. 30, followed by a discussion with film historian Jan Lukeš.