Jesse Eisenberg will receive the President's Award at the 60th KVIFF

At the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the President’s Award will be presented to actor, screenwriter, director, and producer Jesse Eisenberg, a two-time Oscar nominee and the recipient of numerous prestigious film awards.

Jesse Eisenberg is one of the most multifaceted figures in contemporary cinema. His first role was in the 2002 film Roger Dodger, which earned him an award for most promising young actor at the San Diego film festival. His performance in Noah Baumbach’s family drama The Squid and the Whale (2005) earned him nominations for the Independent Spirit Award and the Critics’ Choice Award. The apocalyptic horror comedy Zombieland (2009) was a box office hit; it was followed by the sequel Zombieland: Double Tap in 2019.

In 2010, Eisenberg played Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, which earned him his first nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award. There followed Woody Allen’s comedy To Rome with Love (2012), and four years later he again worked with the legendary director on Café Society (2016). In 2013, he appeared in the thriller Now You See Me and played a double role in The Double (2013), based on the story by Fyodor Dostoevsky.  Most recently, Eisenberg starred in the blockbusters, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025) and the new Minions film, Minions and Monsters (2026).

As a filmmaker, Eisenberg made his screenwriting and directing debut with the feature film When You Finish Saving the World, starring Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard as a mother and son trying to navigate their relationship. The film had its premiere at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals. Eisenberg subsequently aroused great attention with his second film, A Real Pain (2024), in which he and Kieran Culkin play cousins in search of their heritage. Eisenberg was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, and his screenplay won a BAFTA Award, the Waldo Salt Award at the Sundance Film Festival, an Independent Spirit Award, and numerous other prizes. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and Kieran Culkin’s performance garnered an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

His upcoming film as a writer/director, The Debut, stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. Eisenberg co-stars and wrote the music and lyrics for the film’s musical-within-the-movie. It will be released in Fall 2026 by A24.

As a playwright, Eisenberg has had five plays produced in either New York or on London’s West End. His first play, Asuncion premiered in 2011, and he appeared in the play’s production at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The Revisionist, starring Vanessa Redgrave, had its premiere at the same theater in 2013. The dark comedy The Spoils ran in New York and London’s West End. Happy Talk, with Susan Sarandon and Marin Ireland, premiered in 2019, and in 2025 Eisenberg performed his one-man show, The Ziegfeld Files.

Eisenberg has been a frequent contributor to The New Yorker magazine, is the author of Bream Gives Me Hiccups (Grove Press) and When You Finish Saving the World (Audible), which won the 2021 Audie Award for Best Original Work. Outside his artistic work, Eisenberg is a non-directed kidney donor and a Polish citizen.

In honor of Jesse Eisenberg, the Karlovy Vary festival will screen The Double, directed by Richard Ayoade, in which Eisenberg plays the lead role.