KVIFF

Czech Film in Competition

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:40:00 +0200

The Czech Republic’s entry in the Official Selection - Competition at the 43rd Karlovy Vary IFF will be the world premiere of Night Owls (Děti noci), directed by Michaela Pavlátová from a script by Irena Hejdová.
The script took First Prize at the 2005 Sazka Award competition for unrealized screenplays. Director and artist Michaela Pavlátová’s second feature presents a story of troubled youth from the Prague quarter of Karlín.

Tribute to Nicolas Roeg

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:58:00 +0200

Top British filmmaker NICOLAS ROEG will be on hand at the 43rd KVIFF to personally present five of his films.

The controversial filmmaker, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year, first gained wider recognition as cameraman on Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451° and Schlesinger’s Far from the Madding Crowd. Roeg’s directorial debut, Performance (1970), is a scandalous, psychedelic spin on the gangster genre with Mick Jagger in one of the lead roles. It remains one of the most courageous films of the era.

Focus on the Netherlands

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:02:00 +0200

Dutch film production since 2000 is the festival’s choice this year for our retrospective focusing on an individual region.
In the provocative drama Adrift (2001), director Michiel van Jaarsveld investigates 15-year-old Sammy’s difficult adolescence and the important role her older brother plays in her life. Mijke de Jong takes a look at sometimes cruel realities of adolescence in Bluebird (2004, awarded at Berlinale), an intimate drama about a girl confronting bullying at school.

Midnight Movies: The Dark Eyes of London

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:07:00 +0200

BFI curator Vic Pratt has chosen seven classic British horror films, from the 1930s to 1960s, to present as an extra retrospective in the festival’s Midnight Movies section.
The first of these, which British censors initially rated “H” (no one under 16 admitted), lends its title to the overview: The Dark Eyes of London (1939). As the viewer is drawn into London of the 1930s, the English capital is plagued by the shocking murders of single men whose only connection is an insurance company run by the mysterious Dr. Orloff (Bela Lugosi).

Legendary Mexican Director in Karlovy Vary

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:17:00 +0100

“I’m interested in the dark sides of the human psyche,” says director ARTURO RIPSTEIN, whose work will be the subject of a retrospective at the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The son of a successful Mexican producer, Arturo Ripstein (born Dec. 13, 1943, in Mexico City) grew up among the cables and floodlights of film sets and was sure about what he wanted to do from his childhood. His teacher and mentor was Luis Buñuel, whom he assisted in the filming of El angel exterminador (1962) and with whom he maintained contact after his return to Europe and until his death in 1983. Since his debut with the film Tiempo de morir (1966), Arturo Ripstein has made scores of films in Mexico, France and Spain. In spite of the fact that many of these films have received awards in Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian and elsewhere, the name of Arturo Ripstein is better known among film professionals than by the general public, and expositions of his work can be counted on two hands.

New Hollywood II

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:21:00 +0100

The second part of the Karlovy Vary review of American cinema from 1968 - 1980 ties in to last year's successful screening of eight films connected by the appellation "New Hollywood". After dealing with cult films of the decade like Mean Streets and Harold and Maude, this year's programme moves on towards the method by which the filmmakers dealt with classic Hollywood genres and subgenres. Martin Scorsese will be back on festival screens again this year with the psychological retro-musical New York, New York, which features an outstanding performance by Robert De Niro, while the legendary Robert Altman, who died the year before last, will at last receive a New Hollywood premiere in Karlovy Vary with his revisionist western McCabe & Mrs. Miller (starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie).

Two Czech Lions for Empties

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:00:00 +0100

Jan Svěrák´s Empties, which had its international premiere in the Official Selection - Competition at the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2007 where it won the Audience Award and the Special Jury Mention for the screenplay, continues on its successful path. The film, nominated for nine national movie awards Czech Lion (selected annually by the Czech Film and Television Academy), received two prestigious awards – Czech Lion for Best Screenplay for Zdeněk Svěrák and Czech Lion for Best Director for his son Jan Svěrák (Oscar for Kolja 1997). As the film’s producer, Jan Svěrák can also be pleased that Empties was the most popular Czech film of the year 2007, seen by 1,255,000 moviegoers to date. Congratulations.

Czech Lion for The Art of Negative Thinking

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:36:00 +0100

The Norwegian film The Art of Negative Thinking by director Bård Breien has won a Czech Lion for Best Foreign Film of 2007. The black comedy about reckoning with positive thinking was selected for the official competition at the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF, where it had its international premiere and was acclaimed by both the jury (Best Director Award) and festival audiences (2nd place in the vote for the Audience Award). The film was well received by Czech audience in the theatres (distributed by Cinemart).

Karlovy Vary IFF Honours Two Jubilee Celebrants

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:19:00 +0100

In its 43rd year, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will be conferring the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema to two legends of Czechoslovak cinematography, both of whom by coincidence will be celebrating their 70th birthdays a few days apart in April of 2008.
The holders of the prestigious award will be two natives of Slovakia, directors Dušan Hanák and Juraj Jakubisko, outstanding cinematic personalities who have helped in a distinctive way to create the character of Czechoslovak filmmaking from the 1960’s until today.
The Dušan Hanák's films Růžové sny / Rose Tinted Dreams (1976) and Obrazy starého sveta / Pictures of the Old World (1972) and Juraj Jakubisko's new film Bathory will be screened at the 43rd Karlovy Vary IFF.

3rd Prague Short Film Festival

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:16:00 +0200

The 3rd edition of Prague Short Film Festival (organized by the Karlovy Vary IFF team) will be held from November 14 till 18, 2007. The Festival will take place in the centre of the city of Prague in the Svetozor cinema. This year’s festival will again present films in three International Competition blocks, a program of award-winning works from global festivals, experimental films and short films by renowned directors. The “Focus On” section this year will show South Korean and Finnish films, while the World Festivals section will present the Tampere Short Film Festival. We also have two new thematic programs for our visitors: “How to...” and “Before Midnight”. Czech short films will also be returning to the festival after last year’s no show. The festival’s newcomer section “Ultrashorts”, organized in cooperation with Vodafone CR, will present very short films (up to 80 seconds in length).
Short films screened at the Prague Short Film Festival are features. The exception is the Lab section, aimed mainly at works that use new technology such as 3D animation, computer graphics and experimental film language. The vast majority are not school films but films produced by small independent production companies, often with state support. Their common thread is a high level of professional workmanship and detail, crafted with total artistic freedom.
www.pragueshorts.com

What’s new from the Program Department

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:26:00 +0200

Our friends Hana Cielová and Štefan Uhrik, who have been working with the Karlovy Vary IFF since 1995 as programmers of the section Forum of Independents, have decided to terminate their collaboration in order to be able to fulfil other commitments.
This popular section will continue, however, and its contents will be overseen by the Karlovy Vary IFF’s Program Department, headed by Artistic Director Eva Zaoralová and Program Director Julietta Zacharová, who got married recently and her surname is now Sichel. Current programmers Ivana Novotná and Karel Och will be joined by another member of the Program Department, Lenka Tyrpáková.
We would like to remind you that we are accepting film submissions for all program sections for the 43rd Karlovy Vary IFF (July 4 - 12, 2008), in accordance with the festival’s regulations, until April 18, 2008. For more information, please turn to the page Film Entry

European Film Awards

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:40:00 +0200

European Film Academy announced the titles of the films on the selection list for the European Film Awards 2007. We are proud that 5 films introduced in the world or international premieres in the Official Selection - Competition in the last two years of the Karlovy Vary IFF are among those films: Jar City (Mýrin, Grand Prix - Crystal Globe 2007, dir. Baltasar Kormákur; Iceland, Germany), Empties (Vratné lahve, Special Jury Mention 2007, dir. Jan Svěrák; Czech Republic, Great Britain, Denmark), Savior's Square (Plac Zbawiciela, dir. Krzysztof Krauze, Joanna Kos-Krauze, Poland), Reprise (Best Director Award 2006, dir. Joachim Trier, Norway) and Christmas Tree Upside Down (Obarnata elha, Special Jury Prize 2006, dir. Ivan Cherkelov, Vassil Zhivkov; Bulgaria, Germany).

42nd Karlovy Vary IFF

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:45:00 +0200

The 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF 2007 came to a close on Saturday July 8 with the award ceremony. The film director Baltasar Kormákur and producer Lilja Palmadóttir received the Grand Prix - Crystal Globe for the film Jar City (Mýrin).

Award for Danny DeVito

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:20:00 +0200

American actor, director and producer Danny DeVito was presented with the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at the official closing ceremony of the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF 2007. The Jake Paltrow's film in the Official Selection - Competition The Good Night where Danny DeVito stars was screened after the ceremony.

Film Surprise Revealed

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:11:00 +0200

What do shots of deforestation, the cruel reality of slaughterhouses, fishermen plundering the ocean, and rush hour in Los Angeles have in common? The ramifications of the unsparing treatment of nature are considered by personalities such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Stephen Hawking, and particularly Leonardo DiCaprio, co-producer and narrator to The 11th Hour, the documentary debut of sisters Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. Against a backdrop of fascinating images that are breathtaking in their apprehension, a number of scientists pose the question of when will man finally come to terms with the short-sighted folly of his poorly ordered priorities.
This remarkable film, which should be seen by anyone who is not indifferent to the future of planet Earth, was given its world premiere by Warner Bros in Cannes this year. The presence of the film’s producer Chuck Castleberry and executive producer Irmelin DiCaprio – mother of the environmental activist and movie star – will be lending its weight to the film’s gala projection at the 42nd KVIFF.

New Hollywood's Guests

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:36:00 +0200

Karlovy Vary audiences will be able to look forward to seeing the actress and former model Cybill Shepherd, who is a guest at this year’s New Hollywood retrospective. Shepherd, who arrived here at KV IFF on Tuesday, appeared in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and in Peter Bogdanovich’s Daisy Miller. She has devoted herself more to television since the 1980s, and her role as Maddy Hayes, accompanied by Bruce Willis as detective David Addison in Moonlighting, also brought her fame in the Czech Republic. This role brought her three Golden Globes and several nominations for an Emmy.

Guests of the 42nd KV IFF

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:59:00 +0200

The Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema will be awarded to actor, director, and producer Danny DeVito on July 7. Director, screenwriter and cinematographer Tom DiCillo will personally present the Opening film of the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF comedy Delirious. The rising star of the British film Romola Garai will introduce new François Ozon´s film Angel. Italian actor Raz Degan will be accompanying the film One Hundred Nails in the Open Eyes section.
Festival Guests

Danny DeVito to Receive a Crystal Globe Award

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:24:00 +0200

Danny DeVito to Receive a Crystal Globe Award at the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema will be awarded to actor, director, and producer Danny DeVito at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on July 7.
“Danny DeVito first caught the attention of Central Europeans when he performed so brilliantly in our countryman Milos Forman’s masterpiece, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ said Karlovy Vary Festival president Jiri Bartoska. “He has continued over the decades to challenge himself as an actor and has achieved honors not only in that field but in the fields of directing and producing as well and it’s our great pleasure to present this honor Mr. DeVito in front of his legions of international fans at our Festival.”

Festival Opening and Closing

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:36:00 +0200

The award-winning satirical comedy Delirious about unlikely friendship is the latest film by one of the legends of American independent film - Tom DiCillo. The film will officially open the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF on June 29, 2007.
Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Danny DeVito star in enchanting comedy The Good Night about what happens when you encounter the embodiment of perfection. Jake Paltrow will introduce the film which is in the Official Selection - Competition personally in Karlovy Vary.

Cinema Gallery

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:34:00 +0200

The world of film and fine art could certainly be described today as synergetic. The Karlovy Vary IFF confirmed this last year by screening the film retrospective of American multimedia artist Matthew Barney. At this year’s Rotterdam IFF, from the Czech environment, the festival only presented works by “gallery” and experimental filmmakers. This is further indication that the “gallery” current of film production, independent of the politics of producers and distributors, is supporting a strong revival and new impulses for the film industry.
Cinema Gallery

Variety Critics’ Choice

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:22:00 +0200

The Variety Critics’ Choice: Europe Now! (VCC) section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic (June 29 - July 7, 2007) focuses international media attention on European cinema. For the tenth year, this official section of the prestigious Karlovy Vary Festival is programmed by the film critics of the international entertainment business magazine Variety.
The Variety Critics’ Choice: Europe Now!

Films at 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:40:00 +0200

The 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF offers visitors more than 220 feature films and documentaries, of which 9 are world premieres and 38 are international or European premieres.
With the exception of the tributes and retrospectives, all of the films included in the programme at this year's festival will be shown in the Czech Republic for the first time. The three most important festival program sections (Official Selection - Films in Competition, Documentary Films in Competition, East of the West - Films in Competition) will present the best films selected from hundreds titles.

Expected Guests

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:06:00 +0200

RENÉE ZELLWEGER, the Oscar winner and leading lady in Bridget Jones will be coming to Karlovy Vary to present her film Miss Potter. Cult director and executive producer of Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, MONTE HELLMAN will present his existential road movie Two-Lane Blacktop in a retrospective dedicated to New Hollywood. ELLEN PAGE will be personally presenting a film The Tracey Fragments, which is included in the Another View section. HAL HARTLEY returns now after 12 years to present the Czech premiere of his new film Fay Grim. Director ELI ROTH will appear at this year's KVIFF particularly in order to introduce the sequel to the cult horror, Hostel II.

Open Eyes - The Best of Cannes

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:05:00 +0200

This year will be the first that the Karlovy Vary IFF program includes the Open Eyes section, entirely made up of films from this year's international film festival in Cannes that advance the development of cinematic expression in an original way.
The winner of the Palme d'Or itself will be coming straight from the Cannes competition to the screens of Karlovy Vary cinemas. Romanian Cristian Mungiu's dark drama 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS, is a story of two girls that deals with the theme of illegal abortions just before the fall of Ceauşescu's regime. With this, Karlovy Vary has ensured the opportunity to present the prestigious trio of winning films from the most prominent film festivals: the Chinese movie STILL LIFE (Golden Lion in Venice), and TUYA'S MARRIAGE (Berlinale Golden Bear), both presented in the Horizons section.

Renée Zellweger attending the 42nd KVIFF

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:48:00 +0200

Academy Award winner and three time nominee RENÉE ZELLWEGER will be coming to Karlovy Vary to introduce Miss Potter.

At this year's Karlovy Vary IFF, Renée Zellweger will personally present the biographical film Miss Potter, in which she gives a riveting performance in the title role, an author of popular books for children at the turn of the 20th century Beatrix Potter. The film has meant another Golden Globe nomination for one of the most outstanding actresses of today.

Tribute to Břetislav Pojar

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:35:00 +0200

The Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema will be accepted at the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF by Czech animation legend BRETISLAV POJAR (b. Oct. 7, 1923).
Bretislav Pojar (1923) is a big name in Czech animated film, a modern classic. A classic because of his virtuoso command of animating the traditional three-dimensional puppets he brought to life long ago in the films of Jiri Trnka, and also because of his masterful development of the art of the perfectly illusional spectacle, emitting a tender and captivating lyrical atmosphere (The Lion and the Song, The Appletree Maiden). But Pojar has also always been one for daring to try something new, and has always sought out new themes and more and more different ways to deal with the art and animation in his projects. He came up with materials that seemingly had no place in the poetic world of animated film the way they resonated with the times and turned to the mature viewer to spur him to think about his actions and the bleakness of their consequences (A Drop too Much, Bomb-Manie, Antidarwin). And most importantly, he had the idea of animating puppets in relief, playing flexibly and captivatingly with their initial forms and frequently transforming them on-screen right before our eyes; it was a game that brought filmgoers large and small joy from unexpected creative variation and unleashed imagination. Experts appreciate not only the individual works from Pojar's rich filmography but also his "two bears" series of films (Come Sir Let Us Play) and his series of boyish adventures in an overgrown garden (The Garden); everyone simply loves it.

Tribute to Břetislav Pojar

Shochiku Nouvelle Vague

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:38:00 +0200

The Karlovy Vary festival will be presenting a retrospective on three directors who embody the new wave of Japanese cinema – Nagisa Oshima, Masahiro Shinoda and Yoshishige Yoshida. This event will entail a total of seven films from the first half of the 1960s, when the new wave in Japan was at its peak. They will be lent to the exhibition by Shochiku company, which produced early works of all three directors. The Karlovy Vary festival will then be welcoming director Masahiro Shinoda in person, author of a total of 25 films who is compared to the classic Kenji Mizoguchi because of the stylised artistry opted for in his films and historical inspiration in his tragic dramas.

Tribute to William Wyler

Wed, 30 May 2007 17:37:00 +0200

The 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF will be commemorating the 105th anniversary of the birth of one of the unforgettable figures of classic Hollywood, director William Wyler.
With a trio of films by a man who, like his colleagues and friends John Huston and Billy Wilder, wagered on carefully worked-through screenplays and the presence of star actors, the KVIFF will also be taking a look at his co-operation with another legend, Bette Davis.
In the years 1938 - 1941 made three films based on theatre plays - the costume romance Jezebel (by Owen Davis), the film noir The Letter (by William Somerset Maugham) and the drama The Little Foxes (by Lillian Hellman).

Tribute to William Wyler

Eva Zaoralová receives an award from the Cannes festival

Tue, 29 May 2007 18:43:00 +0200

The Artistic Director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and film journalist, Eva Zaoralová, received an award from Cannes festival President Gilles Jacob for her many years in the film industry – a plaque depicting the Cannes palm and those famous steps. Three dozen out of approximately 4,000 accredited journalists were honoured with the award which was presented to mark the 60th anniversary of the festival in Cannes.
“It was one of the first festivals I attended when I began as a journalist and I love coming back here. It’s always a treasure house of good films and a place for all sorts of wonderful encounters,” says Eva Zaoralová.
We will be informing you soon of the new films which the Karlovy Vary festival was able to secure at the Cannes festival for its own programme.

Fresh Selection of Student Films

Fri, 25 May 2007 14:06:00 +0200

After four years student films are returning to the Karlovy Vary IFF. The Fresh Selection programme – The promising five, a short profile of the most-praised current student works from the whole world under the auspices of the Fresh Film Fest International Student Film Festival.
The Fresh Selection programme block presented in the B cinema hall in the Thermal Hotel will introduce five student films made in the last two years. The presented films have acquired repute at festivals around the world and there will also be a representative of Czech student production.

Variety’s editor-in-chief the President of the Grand Jury

Thu, 03 May 2007 10:39:00 +0200

Peter Bart, VP and editor-in-chief of one of the leading film magazines will be the President of the Grand Jury at the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF 2007.

Peter Bart was educated at Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. He spent ten years as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times before entering the motion picture industry. Bart joined Paramount Pictures in 1967 and in his eight-year tenure with the studio played a pivotal role in developing and supervising such landmark motion pictures as The Godfather, Paper Moon, Harold and Maude, True Grit and Rosemary’s Baby...

First Films in the Competitions

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:02:00 +0200

The Official Selection - Competition, the Documentary Films in Competition and the East of the West - Competitive Section are not only the three most important program sections of the Karlovy Vary IFF but they are also appreciated by the audiences the most.
The Official Selection - Competition presents the world, international or European premiere of the selected films which were shot from January 1, 2006 and did not take part in any other film festival competition yet or were not presented internationally. The documentary films are becoming more and more popular with the audience today. The Documentary Films in Competition section offers the careful selection of the newest documentaries from all over the world. The best new films coming out of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc contest within the East of the West section.

New Films from around the World

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:46:00 +0200

Every year, the Karlovy Vary IFF aims to present a showcase sample of contemporary artistic film. As every year, you can see variety of films selected for the traditional program sections. The informative section Horizons offers films which were awarded at other international film festivals, those which generated interest among foreign audiences and critics, and also films screened as special Czech distribution advance premieres. As the title indicates, viewers can expect films selected for the section Another View to convey an unconventional, purely original, or experimental approach to content and form. After the last year’s success, you can look forward to our section Midnight Screenings again. The film selection of Variety Critics' Choice and a selection of new Czech films will be presented this year as well.

Pojar, Sverak and Ondricek

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:11:00 +0200

Each year, the Karlovy Vary IFF focuses on Czech films and Czech filmmakers. The festival program and the competitive sections introduce the best Czech films, the Czech filmmakers make part of the festival juries and we do not fail to award the best Czech filmmakers whose works belong to the golden fund of the world cinematography.
The Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema will be accepted at the 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF by Czech animation legend Bretislav Pojar. The Czech Republic will be represented in the jury at the 42nd KV IFF by film director, screenwriter, and producer David Ondricek, director of the films Whisper and Grandhotel (presented this year in Berlin). 1995 KVIFF winner Jan Sverak (The Ride) will be returning to the festival's main competition with his latest film Empties (Vratne lahve), which he will be introducing in Karlovy Vary for the first time to an international audience.

The Karlovy Vary IFF in New York

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:55:00 +0200

From 4 to 7 May 2007 visitors to New York’s The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) can view for the first time in Manhattan four feature films from the Karlovy Vary IFF programme. Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film at this world famous museum titled this exhibition “The Karlovy Vary IFF Discoveries: Four from East of the West” and he selected the films My Nikifor (dir. Krzysztof Krauze, Poland 2004), Ragin (dir. Kirill Serebrenikov, Russia 2005), Monkeys in Winter (dir. Milena Andonova, Bulgaria 2006) and Other Worlds (dir. Marko Škop, Slovakia 2006). All four films were awarded in Karlovy Vary over the last two years and were later successful at other festivals. For example, the Polish film My Nikifor, after winning the Crystal Globe and another two awards from the Karlovy Vary IFF jury, also took away the Grand Prix – Golden Hugo – at the Chicago IFF.
The exhibition at New York’s MoMA is further testimony that the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is attracting attention not only in Europe but also in the USA as the most important film event in countries lying East of the West.

Karlovy Vary IFF in Berlin

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:06:00 +0100

A yearly reminder that another edition of the Karlovy Vary IFF is coming up is the popular Karlovy Vary cocktail held at the Berlinale for foreign distributors, sales agents, journalists, and festival programmers. Among the more than 300 important guests at this year’s party, which took place on February 13, was the director of the Berlin festival, Dieter Kosslick, who admitted that aside from the official events that the festival itself organises, the Karlovy Vary party was the only one he visited this year.
Three feature-length Czech films were successfully presented in the programme of this year’s Berlinale: the competition film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, Jiří Menzel), Grandhotel (David Ondříček) in the Panorama section, and It Gonna Get Worse (...a bude hůř, Petr Nikolaev) in the Forum section; as well as two shorts from Fimfárum 2 in the Generation Kplus Short Film section.

Karlovy Vary is planning unique retrospectives

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:34:00 +0100

Visitors to this year’s 42nd Karlovy Vary IFF will have the chance to see, apart from the usual extensive collection of new films from all over the world, also two unique retrospectives. One is entitled Shochiku Nouvelle Vague, which will offer examples of work by three directors who greatly influenced the advent of the Japanese New Wave. The retrospective will include filmmakers born at the beginning of the 1930s with films from their early days: Masahiro Shinoda (Assassin), Nagisa Oshima (Violence at High Noon) and Kiju Yoshida (An Affair at Akitsu Spa). With a series of seven films, the Karlovy Vary festival will also be looking back at “new Hollywood” which, at the beginning of the 1970s, was dominated by young filmmakers influenced i.a. by the New Wave, both in France and in Japan (Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Peter Bogdanovich or Terrence Malick).

Krystyna Feldman (1920-2007)

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:36:00 +0100

On January 25th we received the unhappy news that Krystyna Feldman, outstanding Polish actress, had suddenly died. Those who attended the 40th Karlovy Vary IFF in 2005 will remember Krzysztof Krauze’s competition-winning film, My Nikifor, about the famous Polish naïve painter known as Nikifor Krynický. For her incomparable portrayal of the title character, 85-year-old Krystyna Feldman took Best Actress at Karlovy Vary - interestingly enough, for playing a man. During her long career, Krystyna Feldman acted in dozens of Polish films and television shows, but she achieved her greatest success with My Nikifor. After earning three awards at the 40th Karlovy Vary IFF, where the film premiered internationally, it traveled the world, garnering several other awards for both its director and lead actress.

The focal point, however, of Krystyna Feldman’s work was the stage. At the end of the 1930s she studied at Warsaw’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts, then after the war she appeared in numerous plays (classic and modern, Polish and international) on Poland’s top stages. In 1983, she joined the company at the New Theater in Poznan where she lived and unexpectedly died, thankfully without suffering. We will remember her with gratitude as both a terrific actress and a kind, witty, and vital woman.