Karlovy Vary Film Festival to Launch KVIFF Talents

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Bros,” one of the first romantic comedies from a major studio to feature an almost entirely 2SLGBTQIA+ cast, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.The film stars Billy Eichner of “Billy on the Street” fame. Eichner wrote the script for “Bros” with Nicholas Stoller, who also directs. Stoller also directed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” and, like those films, “Bros” is produced by Judd Apatow.

The upcoming edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival will host a retrospective of films from Ukrainian screenwriter, director and producer Sergei Loznitsa in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the art of film.

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.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorYemeni film “The Burdened,” directed by Amr Gamal, won the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award in Eastern Promises, the industry section of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival on Tuesday.The story, written by Gamal and Mazen Refaat, centers on Ahmed, Isra’a and their three children in Aden, Yemen in 2019.

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).

The camera pans over folds of lush blue satin fabric. Quickly fingers enter the frame, caressing it with great care.

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.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorXavier Henry-Rashid’s sales agency Film Republic has acquired Anna Kazejak’s “Fucking Bornholm,” ahead of its international premiere Saturday in the Crystal Globe competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.The Polish comedy drama potrays the generation of today’s 40-year-olds from the perspective of a woman who is in need of profound changes in her life.Two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested.

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.

Marta Balaga As its 56th edition – running July 1-9 – kicks off, Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival is ready to party like it’s 2019.“We can’t predict how many people will come, as some still don’t want to travel, but it’s supposed to be as close to [pre-pandemic] 2019 as possible,” says artistic director Karel Och, noting the audience is still one of the festival’s biggest assets.It’s their enthusiasm for cinema that has “enchanted even big Hollywood stars,” echoes president Jiří Bartoška, hoping for a great atmosphere in Karlovy Vary.But there have been significant changes at the festival, starting with the death of the longtime artistic advisor and former artistic director Eva Zaoralová in March.

Will Tizard ContributorThe Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival roared back to life Friday following the disruption of the pandemic years.And the opening ceremony kicked off with a bit of digital disruption: the audience was invited to pull out their mobile phones and follow festival dancers online before they burst onto the stage with a real-life fire show.The Czech Republic’s main event in the art film world, the festival this year screens some 132 narrative and doc films and has become a hub for filmmakers, producers and regional orgs.But even as enthusiastic, unmasked crowds cheered on the launch of the nine-day event at the iconic 70s-tastic Hotel Thermal, a sense of loss pervaded the proceedings.

Eastern Promises, the popular industry strand of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, has spent the last two years relegated to an online only event due to Covid-19, but the upcoming seventh edition of the event is now gearing up for what it hopes to be a vintage year as it returns in a physical capacity on Sunday, June 3.

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.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorPaolo Genovese’s “Superheroes” will be the opening film of the 56th Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival on July 1, while George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” will close the festival on July 9.“Superheroes” is a romantic film that briefly introduces us to the carousel of joys and fears of a couple brought together by chance.

The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has defended its decision to invite a Russian film to its 56th edition, in spite of promises that it would not welcome Russia state-backed films due to the war in Ukraine.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorTomasz Wasilewski’s “Fools” (Głupcy) has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Proxima Competition. World sales are being handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.Wasilewski won the best script award for “United States of Love” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016, and the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary in 2013 for “Floating Skyscrapers.”“Fools” follows Marlena and Tomasz, hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, who have been in a happy relationship for many years.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Maui Film Festival has announced the slate of films and honorees for its 22nd annual edition.The 2022 festival will feature the Maui premieres of 13 feature films, including “McCurry: The Pursuit of Color,” “Gratitude Revealed,” “Facing Monsters,” “The Story of Everything,” “Pretty Problems,” “Kapo,” “Tango Shalom” and “Pe’Ahi.” The festival opener will be a special surprise, with the film remaining a secret until the screening on July 6.The in-person festival will take place at the outdoors Stardust Cinema, featuring live music, Kahiko style hula and other activities. In addition, 80 short and feature films will be available to stream online through the festival’s Speed-of-Light Virtual Cinema from July 6-31.

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.