Published: June 28, 2023| 11:10 AM

The new trailer featuring Johnny Depp in the main role is out now! It can also be viewed concurrently on the festival’s online platform, KVIFF.TV, which besides the trailer was streaming the entire opening ceremony. The trailer can thus be seen not just on the large plasma screens in Karlovy Vary, but also at home – on computers, tablets, or mobile telephones.

“Two years ago, Johnny Depp received an immensely warm welcome from audiences and fans, thanks to which he has become a great supporter of ours. And so he agreed to film a trailer even though we were limited by his packed schedule. The trailer turned out great, and I am convinced that Johnny Depp will one day return to Vary in person,” says KVIFF’s executive director Kryštof Mucha.

The trailer was directed by renowned film and advertising director Ivan Zachariáš and is set in the famous Art Nouveau Hotel Gellért in Budapest. Depp was working in Europe at the time, and so the stop-over in Hungary fit into his work schedule. “Johnny Depp arrived late as usual, at five in the afternoon instead of two, and right at the start he told me that he would prefer to improvise. I was initially a bit taken aback, but it turned out to be a great idea, since Johnny ended up putting even more of his own personality into the trailer. We had great fun,” Zachariáš remembers. The filming took just two-and-a-half hours. “When we were done, he still wanted to chat even though a plane was waiting for him,” Zachariáš adds.

American actor, producer, and musician Johnny Depp – the recipient of three Oscar nominations, a Golden Globe, and countless other awards – was a guest of the 55th Karlovy Vary film festival in 2021, where he personally presented two films that he produced: the documentary Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) and the drama Minamata (2020), in which he played the lead.

The idea of shooting festival trailers featuring distinctive representatives of world cinema was born fifteen years ago. The creative minds behind these micro-stories showing their subjects’ connection with the festival are directors Ivan Zachariáš and Martin Krejčí.

Watch the theme with Johnny Depp here.