Šary Vary: Official Festival Echoes Offer the Best of KVIFF

This year, the official echoes of the 59th Karlovy Vary International Festival will take place from 14 to 20 July at Prague cinemas Aero, Světozor and Přítomnost and in Brno at Scala Summer Cinema Janáček.

As tradition dictates, the event will open with a screening of the Crystal Globe Competition winner at the Světozor cinema. This year’s Šary Vary will also offer a selection of titles from other festival sections, reflecting current themes in both global and Czech production.

“Most of the films in the Echoes programme are selected from the Horizons Section, which also includes films from other major international festivals. These are films that are already generating buzz and are likely to become audience favourites, in some cases potential Oscars contenders, but many are still waiting for their official premieres. Some may never reach Czech distribution, and it would be a shame to miss their release,” explains Jana Trnková, member of the programme’s dramaturgical team and programme director at Světozor and Lucerna cinemas.

Among the most anticipated titles of Šary Vary is Oliver Laxe’s explosively ecstatic desert rave Sirât, alongside Sound of Falling, a chronicle of farm life that mirrors the fate of four generations of women, by German director Mascha Schilinski. The latter, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, will be screened across all participating Prague cinemas.

The lineup also includes major award-winners from Cannes and Berlin: Dreams by Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud and It Was Just an Accident by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Another highlight is The Love That Remains, a magical portrait of a crumbling relationship by Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason. Sorry, Baby by debuting director Eva Victor, will then bring a comically sharp take on personal trauma, and Paolo Genovese’s Italian relationship comedy Madly also promises a lot of laughter in cinemas. An award-winning debut of Spanish director Eva Libertad, Deaf, offers a unique insight into the lives of people with hearing impairments.

Czech and Slovak films will also be well represented in the Šary Vary programme, complemented by special accompanying events. “On 18 July, the Czech premiere of Dužan Duong’s Summer School, 2001 will take place in Aero cinema. Thanks to a collaboration with the Vietnamese bistro Mamam, the audience can look forward to a great meal. Přítomnost cinema will host a screening of Broken Voices on 17 July, followed by a discussion with director Ondřej Provazník and actress Maya Kintera. On 15 July, director Zuzana Kirchnerová will personally present her film Caravan at the same venue,” adds Anna Lísalová, the second dramaturge of the programme and director of the Přítomnost cinema. Both Summer School, 2001 and the acclaimed domestic title Caravan will be screened for both Prague and Brno audiences. The raw and poetic road movie Caravan can be seen in Prague on 15, 16 and 18 July and in Brno on 14 July.