Regular meetings have been organized with directors, actors, and other filmmakers who present their work as part of the festival program. During the nine years of KVIFF Talks existence large number of filmmakers have shared their experiences with the audience; such as directors Oliver Stone, Todd Solondz, Michel Gondry, William Friedkin or Charlie Kaufman or actors Harvey Keitel, John Malkovich, Christopher Lee and Michael Shannon or film editor Thelma Schoonmaker.

KVIFF Talks are open to the wide public without any tickets or festival budges and are held in English.

1/7/2017

Master Class by James Newton Howard

Congress Hall, 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

This year’s recipient of the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, American composer James Newton Howard, presents his work and, using excerpts from film and live piano, reveals the mystery of composing film music. Howard has written the soundtrack for an incredible number of films, including legendary movies such as Pretty Woman, The Sixth Sense, The Devil’s Advocate and Dark Knight, for which he and Hans Zimmer both earned a Grammy Award.

The Master Class will be hosted by American film critic and historian Leonard Maltin with composer Jan P. Muchow.

2/7/2017

KVIFF TALK with the creators of A Ghost Story

Congress Hall, 04:30 PM - 06:00 PM

Director David Lowery, producers Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston, and actor Casey Affleck first met while working together on Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which the director and producers presented in person at the 2013 Karlovy Vary festival. This year, they will present their latest film, A Ghost Story, and actor Casey Affleck will accept the KVIFF President’s Award. The film’s creators will share their experiences form their past collaborative efforts, and also from filming of their most upcoming film The Old Man and the Gun.

The session is hosted by Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter.

Panel Debate Artisans in Focus

Vodafone Lounge - Hotel Thermal, 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM

This year, the Karlovy Vary IFF is proud to announce a new initiative in partnership with Variety magazine, Barrandov Studio and Czech Anglo Productions. Artisans in Focus will spotlight the brilliant individuals who create the images and sounds that form the magic of movies. Panel of internationally recognized creative professionals will illuminate crafts such as cinematography, editing, and production and costume design, and will explore how artisans work with directors, producers and actors. This year´s guests are: Monika Willi - an award-winning Austrian editor, Wojciech Staroń -Polish cinematoghrapher, Annell Brodeur – American costume designer and Ondřej Nekvasil – Czech production designer.

Debate will be hosted by Peter Caranicas, Variety’s Managing Editor

3/7/2017

KVIFF Talk dedicated to Czech cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera

Cinema A, 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM

This KVIFF Talk presents the monograph In Between Images: Cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera’s Media Practices – a critical analysis of the legacy of this leading Czech cinematographer, long-time teacher at FAMU, and collaborator with Věra Chytilová, Vojtěch Jasný and Karel Kachyňa. The presentation includes excerpts from films that Kučera worked on and unknown material from his archives – photographs, family snapshots, and test footage. There follows a screening of the experimental film 1984: The Year of Orwell, which Kučera shot with Jiří Sozanský inside Prague’s burnt-out Trade Fair Palace. Commenting on the archival materials will be the book’s author Kateřina Svatoňová. Aleš Najbrt will discuss the book’s graphic design.

The book is published by Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, the National Film Archive and MasterFilm.

Presentation will be held in Czech with English translation. 

4/7/2017

KVIFF Talk by the British creative team of Ken Loach and Paul Laverty

Vodafone Lounge - Hotel Thermal, 02:30 PM - 04:30 PM

Director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty have worked together on 12 feature-length and two short films, in the process becoming pioneers of British social realist cinema with a humanist message. At this year’s festival, they will present their 1995 film Land and Freedom, which is being shown on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the European Film Academy. They will also receive a Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. At the KVIFF Talk, they will talk about their careers and many years of working together. 

Session will be hosted by british journalist Neil Young. 

5/7/2017

KVIFF Talk by Canadian director Denis Côté

Cinema C, 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Over a period of more than twenty years, Canadian independent filmmaker Denis Côté has shot more than 12 feature and 16 short films in his distinct and uncompromising style. His films are regularly shown at large international film festivals, where they have won numerous awards. Vic and Flo Saw a Bear won the Silver Bear and the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlinale in 2013. His most recent work, Boris Without Béatrice, premiered in Berlin in 2016. This year’s KVIFF is showing his first ever film, Drifting States, which earned the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. During his KVIFF Talk, he will talk about the how his work has evolved over time.

The event will be hosted by dramaturge and journalist Aleš Stuchlý.

6/7/2017

KVIFF TALK with American film editor Sarah Flack

Cinema C, 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM

Sarah Flack is film editor based in New York. She won a BAFTA for editing Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, and their cooperation continued with Marie-Antoinette, Somewhere, The Bling Ring, A Very Murray Christmas, and The Beguiled which is presented at 52nd Karlovy Vary IFF. She won an Emmy and an American Cinema Editors Award for co-editing the HBO movie Cinema Verite. Her first film job came on the Prague set of Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka, and she later edited three of his films: Schizopolis, The Limey, and Full Frontal. Sarah Flack is a member of this year´s Grand Jury.

Kviff Talk will be hosted by American film critic and historian Leonard Maltin. 

7/7/2017

KVIFF Talk with American actor Jeremy Renner

Grand Hall, 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Actor and musician Jeremy Renner portrayed the main character in the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker, and appeared in the Avengers action series, Captain America and two films in the Mission Impossible series, but also in the crime drama American Hustle and in the recent unconventional sci-fi film Arrival. At this year’s festival, Renner will receive the KVIFF President’s Award and present his most recent film Wind River. The film’s screening in the Grand Hall will be followed by a discussion.

The discussion will be hosted by KVIFF’s artistic director Karel Och.