Šary Vary: Official Echoes of KVIFF will bring the popular festival films to Prague and Brno

This year, the traditional echoes of KVIFF, “Šary Vary”, will bring more than 20 Czech and international films from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival to Prague and Brno. The showcase will run from 13 to 19 July 2026 at the Aero, Přítomnost and Světozor cinemas in Prague, and Scalní letňák: Janáček in Brno, and will feature hits such as Fjord, Fatherland, Rose and The Beloved.

This year, Šary Vary audiences can look forward to films from the Crystal Globe Competition, Horizons, Proxima, Afterhours and Special Screenings, many of which have enjoyed successful premieres not only in Karlovy Vary but also at major European festivals such as Cannes and the Berlinale.

This year, Šary Vary will offer a programme featuring a wealth of Czech and Slovak productions. Only Beautiful Things to Look At, starring Aňa Geislerová as an ambitious doctor, from the Crystal Globe Competition, will have its theatrical release premiere on 16 July at the Světozor cinema as part of the Official Echoes programme, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. Another Czech film competing for the main award is Šimon Holý’s Chica Checa, which will open the festival at the Přítomnost cinema on 13 July. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s director. Czech documentary filmmaking will be represented at the Official Echoes by two portrait films. Helena Třeštíková’s new time-lapse film and winner of the Právo newspaper’s audience award, Bára – Diary of a Rockstar, will show the famous Czech singer Bára Basiková in a different light. Ester Geislerová, for her part, pays tribute to her late father, Petr Geisler, with her film A Pint of Ink. A standout Slovak title is Martina Buchelová’s witty, free-spirited debut Lover, Not a Fighter, winner of the Proxima competition.

The vast majority of the programme at Prague’s Aerokino consists of international films. Fans of crime and gangster films will be delighted by Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. A little surprise will be waiting for the audience in the foyer of the Světozor cinema at the premiere of Flies, an unassuming festival gem by Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke. Spanish-language films feature prominently in the Official Echoes, including Pedro Almodóvar’s new drama Bitter Christmas and the new film The Beloved, starring Javier Bardem, which made a strong impression at the Cannes Film Festival.

Audiences looking for something more adventurous can explore titles from the Afterhours section. “We’re looking forward to the genre-bending boldness and stylistic expressiveness that are characteristic of this type of film. In the Official Echoes programme, these include, for example, the colourful gay animated film Jim Queen and the multi-layered queer deconstruction of 1980s horror films, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” adds programme curator Jiří Flígl.

The most eagerly awaited films on the Šary Vary programme are Pawlikowski’s drama Fatherland, starring Sandra Hüller, who also appears in the mesmerising historical drama Rose, for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at this year’s Berlinale. The Official Echoes programme will also feature Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s meditative and philosophical opus All of a Sudden and the showcase will conclude at the Světozor cinema on 19 July at 8.00 p.m. with one of the biggest highlights and winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival – Fjord.

General information and the film programme for all participating cinemas can be found at www.saryvary.cz