![]() The opening of the 50th Karlovy Vary IFF | |
Location | Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic |
---|---|
Founded | 1946 |
Awards | Crystal Globe |
No. of films | 223 (2015) [1] |
Website | kviff |
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech : Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. [2] [3]
The pre-war dream of many enthusiastic filmmakers materialized in 1946 when a non-competition festival of films from seven countries took place in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary. Above all it was intended to screen the results of the recently nationalized Czechoslovak film industry. After the first two years the festival moved permanently to Karlovy Vary.
The Karlovy Vary IFF first held an international film competition in 1948. Since 1951, an international jury has evaluated the films. The Karlovy Vary competition quickly found a place among other developing festivals and by 1956 FIAPF had already classified Karlovy Vary as a category A festival. Given the creation of the Moscow Film Festival and the political decision to organize only one "A" festival for all socialist countries, Karlovy Vary was forced to alternate year by year with Moscow IFF between 1959 and 1993. [4]
The social and political changes that took place after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 pushed concerns about organizing the Karlovy Vary IFF to the background. The program for 1990 was saved by the release of a collection of Czechoslovak films which had been locked up for years in a storage vault. And the appearance of a number of international guests such as Miloš Forman, Lindsay Anderson, Annette Bening and Robert De Niro helped as well. Future festivals were in doubt. Financial problems and a lack of interest on the part of the government, organizers and viewers almost ended the festival's long tradition in 1992.
In 1994, the 29th Karlovy Vary IFF inaugurated an entirely new tradition. After nearly forty years of alternating with the Moscow IFF, the festival began once again to take place every year. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation was set up in 1993 co-created by the Ministry of Culture, The City of Karlovy Vary, and the Grand Hotel Pupp. Actor Jiří Bartoška was invited to be the festival's president, and Eva Zaoralová became program director in 1995. Since 1998, the organization of the festival has been carried out by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, a joint stock company.
The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; a shortened event was later scheduled for 18–21 November, which will not be counted as an official edition of the festival (being promoted as the 54th and-a-half edition). [5] Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, portions of the Odesa International Film Festival will be hosted at KVIFF in July 2022. [6] [7]
The main center of the festival is Hotel Thermal. The core of the program is the feature film competition; in accordance with FIAPF regulations only those films which have not been shown in competition at any other international festivals can be included. The documentary competition is an important festival event. The extensive informative program features both distribution pre-premiers and films awarded at other festivals. But it also includes discoveries of artistic creations by independent directors, productions coming out of little known film industries, retrospectives, and an overview of Czech film output during the past year. For the tenth straight year the festival will present Variety Critics' Choice: new and interesting films of mainly European production selected by critics working at this prestigious magazine.
Seminars focusing primarily on European film are another important part of the festival.
Thousands of visitors and the great variety of films testify to the effectiveness of the program team with program director Eva Zaoralová at its head. Due to their valiant efforts many films will be purchased at the festival for wider distribution or, thanks to receiving a festival award, will attract the attention of major producers, distributors, and the media.
The festival program has the following sections:
Since 1948, the Grand Prize has been the Crystal Globe – although its form has often changed. As of the 35th Karlovy Vary IFF 2000 the Crystal Globe has taken on a new look: now the figure of a woman stands raising a crystal ball (artistic concept developed by Tono Stano, Aleš Najbrt, Michal Caban, and Šimon Caban).
The Feature Film Competition is divided into the following main awards: [8]
The Documentary Competition is divided into the following main awards:
Each year, the festival also presents the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema.
Crystal Globe is the main award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, first given in the Czech Republic city of Karlovy Vary in 1948.
The 40th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 1 to 9 July 2005. The Crystal Globe was won by My Nikifor, a Polish drama film directed by Krzysztof Krauze. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by What a Wonderful Place, an Israeli drama film directed by Eyal Halfon. English film director and screenwriter Michael Radford was the Grand Jury President of the festival.
Prague International Film Festival - Febiofest is one of the largest film festivals in the Czech Republic and the second most prestigious festival in the country. The festival presents a wide spectrum of contemporary and retrospective examples of high-quality film including alternative, film-school and amateur works to a diverse viewing public.
The 41st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 30 June to 8 July 2006. The Crystal Globe was won by Sherrybaby, an American drama film written and directed by Laurie Collyer. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won ex aequo by the Bulgarian film Christmas Tree Upside Down, directed by Ivan Tscherkelov and Vasil Zhivkov, and by the Czech film Beauty in Trouble, directed by Jan Hřebejk.
The Fresh Film Fest International Film Festival or Fresh Film Fest is an international student film festival held annually in August in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, first held in 2004.
The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival from June 29th to July 7th 2007. The Crystal Globe was won by Jar City, an Icelandic police detective film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Lucky Miles, an Australian drama directed by Michael James Rowland. Bård Breien was named Best Director. The Best Actress title went to Elvira Mínguez, and Best Actor to Sergey Puskepalis.
The 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 4 to 12 July 2008. The Crystal Globe was won by Terribly Happy, a Danish neo-noir film directed by Henrik Ruben Genz. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by The Photograph, an Indonesian drama directed by Nan Achnas.
Honeymoon is a 2013 Czech drama film directed by Jan Hřebejk. It was nominated for the Crystal Globe at the 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where Hřebejk won the Best Director Award. The film was also screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
The 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 3 to 11 July 2009. The Crystal Globe was won by Angel at Sea, a Belgian-Canadian drama film directed by Frédéric Dumont. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Twenty, an Iranian drama film directed by Abdolreza Kahani.
The 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 2 to 10 July 2010. The Crystal Globe was won by The Mosquito Net, a Spanish drama film directed by Agustí Vila. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Kooky, a Czech action comedy film directed by Jan Svěrák. American film producer Ron Yerxa was the Grand Jury President of the festival.
The 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 1 to 9 July 2011. The Crystal Globe was won by Restoration, an Israeli drama film directed by Yossi Madmoni. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Gypsy, a Slovakian drama film directed by Martin Šulík. Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director István Szabó was the Grand Jury President of the festival.
The 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 29 June to 7 July 2012. The Crystal Globe was won by The Almost Man, a Norwegian comedy film directed by Martin Lund. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy, an Italian drama film directed by Marco Tullio Giordana.
The 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 3 to 11 July 2015. The Crystal Globe was won by Bob and the Trees, an American fictional vérité drama film directed by Diego Ongaro. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Those Who Fall Have Wings, an Austrian drama film directed by Peter Brunner.
The 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 30 June to 8 July 2017. The Crystal Globe was won by Little Crusader, a Czech historical drama film directed by Václav Kadrnka. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Men Don’t Cry, a Bosnian drama film directed by Alen Drljević.
The 39th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 2 to 10 July 2004. The Crystal Globe was won by A Children's Story, an Italian drama film directed by Andrea and Antonio Frazzi. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Here, a Croatian drama film directed by Zrinko Ogresta.
The 38th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 4 to 12 July 2003. The Crystal Globe was won by Facing Windows, an Italian drama film directed by Ferzan Özpetek. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Babusya, a Croatian drama film directed by Lidiya Bobrova.
The 37th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 4 to 13 July 2002. The Crystal Globe was won by Year of the Devil, a Czech mockumentary film directed by Petr Zelenka. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Nowhere in Africa, a German historical film directed by Caroline Link. French American film actor and director Jean-Marc Barr was the president of the jury.
The 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 5 to 14 July 2001. The Crystal Globe was won by Amélie, a French romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Hi, Tereska, a Polish drama film directed by Robert Gliński. Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter Krzysztof Zanussi was the president of the jury.
The 35th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 5 to 15 July 2000. The Crystal Globe was won by Me You Them, a Brazilian drama film directed by Andrucha Waddington. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won ex aequo by The Big Animal, a Polish comedy-drama film directed by Jerzy Stuhr, and by Peppermint Candy, a South Korean drama film directed by Lee Chang-dong. Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer and film producer Abbas Kiarostami was the president of the jury.
The 56th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from July 1 to 9, 2022, in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.