KVIFF's Industry Days Expand with New Small-Screen Showcase and Enhanced Central European Co-Production Focus

The 2025 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Industry Days programme, which will take place from Sunday, July 6 to Wednesday, July 9 – adding an additional full day of activities – will offer a lot of significant innovations, including a sharpened focus on Central European co-production opportunities in an updated showcase format of its KVIFF Eastern Promises platform.

The extended programme broadens its scope with new presentations and events dedicated to the small-screen and series development. Supported by a new partnership with Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME), an entertainment company and broadcaster, the festival introduces a Pop-Up Series Incubator featuring five original European series. The aim is to establish Karlovy Vary as a hub for co-productions and creative collaborations across diverse narrative forms.

"We believe that we have a unique opportunity to strengthen our position as the leading industry event dedicated to Central Europe, a region that also includes creative powerhouses like Poland, Germany or Austria, and deserves focused international attention. Our aim is to serve as a central hub for producers, filmmakers, broadcasters, and platforms from Central Europe, alongside global industry professionals who wish to engage closely with this vibrant region. Recognizing the growing crossover of storytelling across various mediums, our expanded Industry Days now have the capacity and vision to fully embrace this evolution," says Kryštof Mucha, the Executive Director of Karlovy Vary IFF.

Central Europe to Take Central Stage

The most significant innovation is a new format dedicated to showcasing film projects in the making – the previous Works in Progress pitches will be replaced by a more dynamic and CEE-focused KVIFF Central Stage showcase, a new initiative created by the KVIFF Film Industry Office in cooperation with selected national film institutes of eight Central European countries (Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine).

Thirteen fiction films by established filmmakers from these countries that are in late stages of development, in production or post-production. Instead of traditional pitches, the projects will be introduced through interactive talks, focusing on the filmmakers and coproduction landscape in each of the participating countries.

“We chose this new format because it addresses a real gap in the Central European film landscape. There is significant support for emerging filmmakers across Eastern Europe, but mid-career filmmakers often lack the necessary spotlight and resources to secure financing, even though their projects are equally compelling,” says Hugo Rosák, the Head of KVIFF Industry Office.

The Central Stage showcase will take place on Tuesday, July 8, on the Industry Main Stage in the KVIFF Industry Hub in Kaiserbad. The 13 selected projects will be revealed by the KVIFF Industry Office later in June.

Small Screen, Big Ambitions

Another pivotal development in this year's industry program is the strategic expansion beyond feature films to embrace small-screen content, made possible through a groundbreaking new partnership with Central European Media Enterprises Ltd (CME), a leading content creator and broadcaster in Central and Eastern Europe operating in six geographical segments: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia, and Slovenia. It also operates Oneplay (formerly Voyo), its original subscription video on demand platform. This collaboration aims at transforming Karlovy Vary into a comprehensive hub for television and streaming series development, thanks to a dedicated event program consisting of showcases, panels workshops and talks by major small-screen players and experts that will take place on Tuesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 9.

More information can be found in the press release.