Published: July 02, 2022| 05:00 PM

The exhibition Our Festival Legend... A Tribute to Eva Zaoralová on the 1st floor of the Thermal Hotel was opened on Saturday, July 2. A selection of photographs capturing the life of the festival’s longtime artistic director, who died this March, was presented by Karel Och, the current artistic director of KVIFF. "This year’s festival is the first which our Festival Legend will miss. She would have given us a dressing-down for being sentimental" he said in introducing the exhibition.

Karel Och believes that the photographs, selected by photographer Michal Čížek, reveal what Eva Zaoralová meant for the festival. "Let us remember this great lady of Czech film fondly and rejoice in the opportunity to have met her" – with these words, he invited those present for a guided tour. The exhibition is free for visit for the whole duration of the festival.

In the Small Hall of the Thermal Hotel, Karel Och then presented the Oscar-winning film La Strada by Italian director Federico Fellini. "Eva Zaoralová often mentioned La Strada as the reason why she had fallen in love with cinema. This screening is dedicated to her, as an acknowledgement for all her work for the festival" said Karel Och to the full auditorium. "It is quite obvious who is the biggest star of this year’s festival" he said of Eva Zaoralová.