How ‘Power Station’ Filmmakers Camped Out on Their Rooftop in Winter to Raise Funds for Solar Panels for Their Neighborhood

Ji.hlava fest audiences who packed the cinema at the Czech Republic’s doc showcase to see “Power Station” found themselves feeling unexpectedly upbeat, they said following the film about taking on climate change one street at a time.

The 29th edition of the fest is showing off its usual rich selection of progressive programming to be sure, but in terms of emotion, one viewer told co-directors Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn, films here are usually more about getting angry or perhaps somber.

But laughter and spectacle – along with impressive civic organizing – are the trademarks of this bickering, hustling married couple, as they’ve shown off in their past films.

The two managed to revive a Soviet-era distillery that had been seized by the state in Ukraine in their 2012 doc “How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire,” before moving onto “Bank Job” in 2021, in which they bought up and forgave $1.5 million…