For the second consecutive year, an IDF alumni film will represent Czechia at the Academy Awards. The Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) has selected If Pigeons Turned to Gold, directed by Pepa Lubojacki, as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Czech-Slovak documentary was presented at Czech Docs: Coming Soon 2024, held as part of the East Doc Platform. It follows Klára Tasovská’s IDF alumni film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, which became the first documentary ever selected as Czechia’s Oscar submission last year.
From East Doc Platform to Berlinale
If Pigeons Turned to Gold was one of five upcoming Czech documentaries presented at Czech Docs: Coming Soon during East Doc Platform 2024. The initiative introduces projects with strong international potential to leading decision-makers and helps filmmakers find partners, funding and opportunities for international release.
The film had its world premiere in the Forum section of the 2026 Berlinale, where it won both the Berlinale Documentary Award and the independent Caligari Film Prize.
According to the Czech Film and Television Academy, ten films submitted by their producers met the eligibility requirements of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A seven-member preselection committee chose five finalists: Chica Checa, If Pigeons Turned to Gold, Invincibles, What a Way to Go and Little Thief. All eligible ČFTA members without a conflict of interest could then vote in the second round, held from July 27 to August 14.
If Pigeons Turned to Gold (dir. Pepa Lubojacki, Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2026, 110 min.)
Have you ever grieved someone who is still alive?
Raw, self-made and deeply personal, If Pigeons Turned to Gold explores addiction and intergenerational trauma through several years in the lives of four family members. Filming on an iPhone, director Pepa Lubojacki tries to understand why their beloved older brother and cousins live without stable housing and struggle with substance addiction.
The formally inventive film combines diaristic footage with stylised memories, AI-animated photographs and graphic interventions. Without sentimentality, it examines the causes and consequences of addiction while asking where love ends, control begins and whether respect means trying to save someone—or letting go.
The film was produced by Klára Mamojková and Wanda Kaprálová. More information, including the trailer and full credits, is available in the DOKweb database.
The shortlist of 15 films competing for Best International Feature Film will be announced on December 15, 2026. The final nominations will follow on January 21, 2027, and the 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 14, 2027.