Karlovy Vary Defends Decision To Invite Russian Film To 2022 Edition

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled the winners of the five project showcases taking place within its auspices from July 3-5.

The spectre of the war in Ukraine loomed large at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Tuesday as it hosted the annual Work in Progress showcase of the Ukrainian Odesa International Film Festival (OIFF).

Jake Paltrow directs and co-writes June Zero, an unusual account of the death of Adolf Eichmann that’s screening at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The Czech Film Commission, the body that promotes the Czech Republic to the international world, had its website hacked last week by Russian hackers. Speaking at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Odesa Film Festival at Karlovy Vary’s Industry Days section, Czech Film Commission head Pavlina Zipkova told delegates that its website was recently targeted by Russian hackers after it posted an article on its website highlighting the Czech Republic as being a safe place to shoot.

bombastico.But then, this was, in every sense, a big night. Once the film let out, the thousand-strong crowd gathered outside Karlovy Vary’s main site for a free show that featured Czech band MIG 21, a 60-piece orchestra, 20 choir singers and two rather saucy dancers, and that concluded – as only such a statement could – with a fireworks display.

Will Tizard ContributorWhen Liev Schreiber first encountered how ordinary Ukrainians on the ground are handling the vast and urgent crises brought on by the Russian war, he says, one thing was clear to him immediately: “They were doing all the work.”Speaking about his non-profit BlueCheck Ukraine at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday, the actor/writer/producer explained this realization is central to his newly organized efforts to help.Schreiber was also motivated to found BlueCheck Ukraine after hearing many Americans express doubt about whether funds donated to the war relief effort would reach those most in need. Westerners are skeptical about transparency in Eastern Europe, he learned, likely because of the region’s history of corruption and waste.

While Covid cases begin to surge again in Hollywood, it’s a different story nearly 6,000 miles away as the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off with a bang on Friday night. The prominent Central European festival showed no sign that the pandemic was going to mar yet another edition of the much-loved event as delegates packed into the Hotel Thermal’s Grand Hall for its opening night ceremony and opening night film Superheroes, from Italian director Paolo Genovese.

Good afternoon Insider squad. Max Goldbart here back from Glastonbury with all the news, analysis and sunburn you need as we look back on the final week of June. Read on.

The Jerusalem Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its Israeli feature film competition as well as all the other local productions selected to screen in its 39th edition, running 21-31.

As the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is about to kick off on Friday, there will be plenty to discuss at this year’s event in the picturesque Czech spa town. The prominent Central European festival, which is returning to its usual early July slot after last year’s edition was delayed to August because of the pandemic, will see 33 films from five continents screen across its three sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, the Special Screenings section and its new competition, Proxima, which replaces the former East of the West section.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) will open this Friday with Italian director Paolo Genovese’s relationship drama Superheroes and close with George Miller’s Cannes title Three Thousand Years of Longing, it has revealed in a final pre-kick-off announcement.

Scores of civilians are feared dead or seriously injured after a Russian rocket strike hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, officials have said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was “unimaginable”, citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack.

Christopher Vourlias Several leading Ukrainian filmmakers have called out the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for including a Russian film in its 56th edition, which kicks off on Friday, insisting that it’s reneged on a promise not to welcome any movies with ties to the Russian government.In a letter addressed to artistic director Karel Och and festival leadership that was shared with Variety, the filmmakers behind Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s “Pamfir,” Maksym Nakonechnyi’s “Butterfly Vision” and Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “Reflection,” criticized the long-running Czech festival for including “Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” by directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov, in its Horizons sidebar.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou has won the Kirch Foundation Award, which comes with a €5,000 cash prize, for her film project “I’m Coming for You.”The award comes at the conclusion of the first edition of Munich Film Up!, an eight-month mentoring and residency program for film school graduates that started in November.The program was created by the Pop Up Film Residency, in partnership with the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF München) and the Munich Film Festival.The six filmmakers who took part in the program were:Lana Bregar, Slovenia (Film school: AGFRT Ljubljana) with “Dark Head” Erec Brehmer, Germany (Film school: HFF München) with “Lightness and Weight” Anastasiya Gruba, Ukraine (Film school: Kyiv University) with “Women Suicide Season” Loïc Hobi, Switzerland/France (Film school: Ecole de la Cité) with “Crypto Lover” Cyrielle Raingou, Cameroon (Film school: Doc Nomads Master) with “I’m Coming for You” Pratik Thakare, India (Film school: Satyajit Ray Institute Kolkata) with “A Midnight Meal” “I’m Coming for You,” which is still at an early stage of development, centers on Karthoumi, a young mother. Always wearing a hijab, she rides a Bobber motorcycle across Africa’s Sahel region to trade with Boko Haram terrorists.

Despite an emotional plea by Ukraine’s political leaders and support for them by the UK government, next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will definitely not take place in the beleaguered European country.