In September the documentary “Don’t Look Away” had its world premiere at the Sportsfilm Liberec Film Festival in the Czech Republic; it received a special Honorable Recogntion award from the jury.
It was only appropriate that the film be aired first in the Czech Republic as this was the subject of the film’s home country.
Vera Caslavska is a hero in her homeland and quite rightly so. For not only was she a World Class gymnast but she was also a patriot. She was a woman who had the courage to stand up and protest at a time when women did not have a voice and she paid a heavy price. Yet her resilience in her life was remarkable.
“Don’t Look Away” tells the story of that life.
The film is directed by Not The Footy Show’s Ashley Morrison who said that the motivation for the film was to remind gymnasts just how great she was, but also to remind the world of her silent protest and the price that she paid.
Australian’s will have their first chance to view the film in Perth on the 16th November at 6pm at the Luna Palace Cinema in Leederville, courtesy of the Czech and Slovak Association of Western Australia.
Tickets are still available through this link: https://www.czechslovakwa.org/event/movie
If you are looking for a true hero in women’s sport and an outstanding role model, this is the film for you.
It has received two other awards at two of the three other film Fetivals it has been screened at including the Sport Movies & TV 2025 – Milan International FICTS Festival. There were 1,965 works submitted from all over the world including 35 world and European premieres. “Don’t Look Away” was one of three from Australia out of the 129 films that were screened and it was one of two films about Czech Athletes out of the six honoured in one of the 8 categories; ours being Olympic and Paralympic Spirit Feature Films.where it received a Mention D’Honneur prize.
Then this week it was recognised as the Best Biographical Film at the California Women Film Festival.
Here is the trailer. Be sure to book your tickets.
