On Friday evening, American actress and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal took to the Grand Hall stage to receive the President’s Award. She returned to the same stage on Saturday evening to introduce The Bride!, her new film, which premiered earlier this year and which she wrote, directed, and produced.
“I was here for the sound check, and I’m so excited that you’ll be seeing the film here. A filmmaker I admire once described The Bride! by saying that while it’s a film about monsters, it’s also a monster itself, which can be complicated,” she teased the audience, introducing her provocative dark romance, in which she reimagines the Frankenstein story in 1930s Chicago.
Gyllenhaal then introduced her producer and close collaborator, Matt Kuyawa, as well as her daughter, who accompanied her to Karlovy Vary. “I’m incredibly fond of the studio that made this wild film with me. It’s run by brave and creative people. But there was one thing I wanted to do that they wouldn’t let me do because they have a strict rule against it. I really wanted to dedicate this film to my daughters. So when the film ends, imagine one final black screen that reads: For my daughters,” the director concluded her introduction to The Bride!, a film about an emancipated, subversive and rebellious woman.
