AFO is currently one of the most important European festivals in the area of popular science film. It aims to present science as an attractive, dynamic and diverse sector through films charting natural, humanities and social science disciplines. Each year, hundreds of documentary films and television programs enroll in the competition sections of the festival. Traditionally, renowned stations such as BBC, Discovery Channel or National Geographic submit their films. In past years, the festival introduced for example Albert Barillé, the creator of the legendary cycle series Once Upon a Time... Life; Jeff Lieberman, host of Time Warp, an American popular show; Martha Holmes, exclusive producer of the BBC series Life; a world-renowned biologist Steve Jones; renowned populariser of science and medicine, Lord Robert Winston, popular British biologist and BBC associate Nigel Marven, executive producer of CBC series The Nature of Things Sue Dando or theoretical physicist and atheist activist Lawrence M. Krauss. The festival takes place in April in Olomouc. It originated in 1966.
Science film is a unique category of documentary film, an important field of cinema, that represents a substantial part of contemporary television broadcasting. AFO´s active programming seeks significant works in Czech and world science cinema, and present them to general as well as academic public. It focuses not only on current productions, but reviews, and revives the history of the genre in special program sections. Each year, a dominant topic brings together films and guests from all over the world, presenting science as a thrilling adventure.
