46th edition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival brings celebrities, film enthusiasts and industry professionals to west Bohemian spa town
For the 46th time, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off on July 1st. As every year, celebrities and hordes of young film enthusiasts alike flocked to the west Bohemian spa town. Among the famous visitors this year are the legendary British actress Judi Dench and American actor John Turturro. Sarah Borufka was at the festival and has this report.
Along with presenting a new adaptation of Jane Eyre, directed by Carry Joji Fukunaga, in which she appears, Judi Dench also was awarded the Crystal Globe award for her outstanding contribution to world cinema. Here is what the veteran actress said upon receiving it.
“I am so pleased to be here, I have been to the Czech Republic several times before. I actually have relatives who live in Prague, but I’ve never been to Karlovy Vary. And I am so pleased to be here tonight and get this wonderful award.”
“As Sir John Gielgud once said to me, if you get a prize, or you get very good notices for something, you may enjoy them for the day you get it, but then after that, perhaps you should then forget it and you get on with the whole process of honing your craft and getting it better.
“But it ‘s wonderful to get something and this one, I just thought last night, looks very beautiful standing next to an Oscar because it looks like his wife. They look very good together, so I shall introduce her as soon as I get home.”
“A favorite of mine, John Turturro, is going to be arriving any time now, from all the Coen brothers films. He has an incredible range. I got to meet and talk to Burt Young, one of the classic crime film character actors the other days. I think people really love these interesting actors, I think they are more interested in these actors than say, the superstars, personally.”
While it brings some seasoned actors and directors to Karlovy Vary, this year’s edition of the festival also features a surprisingly large amount of films by first-time directors. When I met up with Lenka Tyrpáková from the festival’s programming department, I asked her if that was a conscious decision.
“Of course, we try to discover new young filmmakers, but in a way, it was also a coincidence, that about a fourth of the films are by first-time directors. We are happy about this.”
Besides the main competition, the documentary competition and the section East of the West, in which Eastern and Central European directors compete for an award, the festival also presents interesting movies in the form of retrospectives and non-competitive sections. One, for example, is devoted to young Greek directors, and another section called Out of the Past features classic and hard-to-find films. I asked Will Tizard which movies he is looking forward to see.
While most of the movies shown at the festival are foreign, it also brings some contemporary Czech films to the audience, for example the Czech-Slovak coproduction Cigán, or Gyspy, which has already made waves ahead of the festival, or Petr Marek’s Nic proti ničemu, or Nothing Against Nothing, a movie exploring the theme of adoption in the grimly authentic Dogma style.
“Our first film, Poustevna, das ist Paradies! was shown here. Actually, Karlovy Vary was the first film festival that really gave us the chance. After we had a screening here, when our first film was really just a work in progress, we were approached by lots of people who wanted to see our documentaries. And we also got some invitations to other festivals based on that. So I think that it is a really good opportunity for debut filmmakers to start at this festival, for sure.”
“I think that the festival does quite a lot for Czech movies, and I think that this kind of festival, which is category A, should try to maintain a good level in the films it presents. So I think, it’s quite ok that a lot of Czech movies are not shown here, because lots of Czech movies are simply not good, why show them here.”
Radim Špaček is another Czech director. His film Pouta or Walking Too Fast was screened here at the festival the night before I spoke to him. He told me that he was surprised by how interested viewers were and that the Q&A lasted for a very long time. Here’s what else he had to say about the special atmosphere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Of course, the bulk of directors visiting come from all over the world, and many of them say that they appreciate the unique charm of this festival, the contrast of the lavish architecture along the colonnade and the functionalist slab of concrete, Hotel Thermal, the center of the festival. It is these differences that make the festival so attractive, says Amir Bar-Lev, whose film Fighter won the Special Jury Prize in Karlovy Vary’s documentary film section in 2000. He says he really enjoys coming back – this time, he is here as the chairman of the documentary jury.
For the 46th time, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will wrap up on Saturday, when the winners are announced at the closing ceremony and the last party of this year’s festival kicks off. But most visitors are sure to come back next year for yet another ten days jam-packed with movies, celebrities and celebrations.
