Will award-winning documentary ‘If Pigeons Turned to Gold’ fly the Czech flag at 2027 Oscars?
The Czech Republic is betting on a debut documentary for its 2027 Oscars submission — from filmmaker Pepa Lubojacki.
Shot over five years, filmmaker Pepa Lubojacki points the camera at his own family in If Pigeons Turned to Gold, tracking his brother and two cousins as addiction upends their lives. The debut feature stitches together diary footage, stylized memories, live photos, and graphic collages — much of it captured on phones — and even folds in AI- crafted imagery to mirror the chaos and coping inside the household.
The Czech Film and Television Academy has chosen the documentary as the country’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards ( 2027 ), spotlighting an unflinching, highly personal approach rarely sent into that race.
“Using the DIY aesthetics, the director interlinks diary shots, stylized memories, live photos, as well as graphic collages, and without any sentiment tries to understand the reasons for their fall and also the impact of it on the whole family,” the Czech Academy said.
From festivals to theaters
Produced by Claw Films with Czech Television, the movie picked up early honors at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, then premiered in Berlin and continued to major stops in Istanbul, Sydney, and Karlovy Vary. It screened in the Docu Best section at the DocuDays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and made its Australian bow at the 73rd Sydney Film Festival on June 10, 2026 .
At the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, it ran as a Special Screening from July 8–10, 2026. Sales outfit Split Screen has acquired international rights. A domestic theatrical release in the Czech Republic is set for September 24, 2026.
Who made it
- Pepa Lubojacki — director, writer, editor; also appears on screen
- Producers — Klára Mamojková, Wanda Kaprálová
- Production — Claw Films; co-produced with Czech Television
- Cinematography — Pepa Lubojacki, Tomáš Šťastný
- Music — Adam Matej
- On-screen subjects — David Richter, Pepa Lubojacki, David Lubojacki, Marco Arnone
The Oscar submission positions Lubojacki’s experimental first feature — a family portrait turned survival chronicle — for the international feature race, with a Czech theatrical rollout arriving September 24, 2026.