The halls of the 14th Noir Film Festival fell silent a week ago, so let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the mosaic of this year’s truly unique “film noir party“, held this time in Český Šternberk!

A huge thank you goes to our partners, donors, and the accommodating castle administration—without whom we could only have dreamed of this four-day film festival. On behalf of everyone, I’d like to mention the Central Bohemian Region, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Nova Cinema, LoGyn, ABB Robotics, BRAVA Machining, and the ČEZ Foundation.

I’d also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all members of the 2026 festival team, especially our wonderful programmers, our experienced and tireless production team, and our meticulous festival center staff—for securing the necessary film licenses, the bustling “Black Market,” the creative management of the festival’s website and social media, the accurate translations of the film subtitles, and the professional technical support of the screenings, and to the many others who worked to make this successful 14th edition possible.

And last but not least, a special thank you, of course, goes to all of you who came to the castle and the town of Český Šternberk—even if just for a single film—and helped us sell out 22 of the 50 screenings :)! Without you, the often very complex organization of this event would have been meaningless.

Thank you once again, and we look forward to seeing you in August 2027!

Vítek Grigartzik, Festival Executive Director

Time flew by, and the fourth day—and with it, the entire festival—came to an end. On the festival’s final day we enjoyed, among other things, an insight into criminalistics by Jiří Hacker and a live reading of Raymond Chandler, which was wonderfully performed by two entirely random and completely unknown men from the crowd, Tomáš Hanka and Petr Rulička :). The weather was kinder to us this time, and we wrapped up the festival together at Kašpar Sternberg’s courtyard with a screening of Hunted.

We’re very happy we got to enjoy this year’s “noir” with all of you—thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again next year (or maybe sooner)!

Photo: Pavlína Lindová, Šárka Leinweberová

Although a storm drove us indoors in the evening, the third day turned out just as well as the first two. There was a unique screening of Christmas with Elizabeth with audio description for blind and visually impaired viewers, the launch of its DVD release, attended by actor Jan Šťastný, and a screening of the documentary Black Days accompanied by live music by saxophonist Kamil Janský and guitarist Joe Karafiát.

Photo: Pavlína Lindová, Šárka Leinweberová

After spending the day watching this year’s noir selection, sampling mead, or relaxing with some tasty snacks in Hana Maciuchová’s Courtyard, we gathered in the evening for the launch of the special noir edition of the DVD Gun Crazy, enjoyed an acrobatic performance by Ivy Kolcun, and screened the iconic The Big Combo.

Photo: Pavlína Lindová

The first day of the 14the edition of the festival. back at Castle Český Šternberk, is behind us! We officialy opened the festival with (not only) the sounds of flute and saxophone at the Kašpar Sternberg’s courtyard, alongside an opening word from our dear guest actor Peter Kostka, and with a screening of the legendary film They Drive By Night.

Photo: Pavlína Lindová

Welcome to Český Šternberk! We’ll kick off the festival with seven fantastic screenings, including They Drive by Night, which you can look forward to at the official opening word in the Kašpar Sternberg Courtyard at 20:30. Come experience the one-of-a-kind atmosphere of  watching (not only) classic noir films in the  unique space of a castle. We look forward to seeing you!

In addition to a rich daytime program, you can look forward to four real gems screened every festival evening in the Kašpar Sternberg courtyard. We’ll open the festival with the genre-mixing film They Drive by Night (1940), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Thursday evening will belong to the iconic The Big Combo (1955), which is a vocabulary of noir techniques. A truly exceptional screening awaits you on Friday evening —Kachyňa’s Christmas with Elizabeth (1968) will be screened with audio description for the visually impaired and blind, and will be preceded by the documentary Black Days (1968) with live music. And on Saturday, we’ll wrap up the festival with the award-winning Hunted (1952), starring Dirk Bogarde.

The festival evenings thus won’t be boring either! Tickets are available through the festival reservation system until Monday Aug 17 until 12 AM., and then from Aug 19 12:00 AM in the festival center at the lower courtyard at Castle Český Šternberk.

We look forward to seeing you at these exceptionally atmospheric cinematic experiences!

Phil Marlowe looks forward to seeing you at Český Šternberk from August 19 to August 22, 2026! You don’t have to be the best private eye in the business to find a film in our program just for you – we have something for everybody, come have a look!

On Friday, July 24, the 14th Noir Film Festival was added to the ČEZ Foundation’s „EPP – Pomáhej pohybem” („help through movement“) mobile app, which has decided to support our festival—and we’re very grateful for that! But to access this support, you’ll need to confirm it by earning points through physical activity. Whether you run, dance, ride a bike or a horse, or simply hike up the hill to Český Šternberk, once you download the EPP app, you can convert your activities into points and support the festival in ways other than financially.

Thank you :)!

Yes, that’s exactly how much time is left until Český Šternberk Castle dons its noir look for the first time in two years…

The followingf 8 of our screenings are already sold out:

• Obsession (20. 8.)
• The Long Goodbye (20.8.)
• Lady in the Lake (20. 8.)
• A Lady without Passport (21. 8.)
• Gaslight (22. 8.)
• Don’t Bother to Knock (22. 8.)
• So Dark the Night (22. 8.)
• The Upturned Glass (22. 8.)

So if you don’t have tickets yet, don’t hesitate—we look forward to seeing you :)!