Dench visit one of the highlights at Karlovy Vary film festival

For the 46th time, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off in the west Bohemian spa town on Friday, drawing young film enthusiasts and celebrities alike. Among the famous visitors this year are the famous British actress Judi Dench and American actor John Turturro.

Judi Dench, photo: CTK

Jan Richter caught up with Sarah Borufka who is at the festival and asked her about this year’s program and what the highlights were so far.

“Well I think without a doubt Judi Dench’s visit was THE highlight so far. She was here with the movie Jane Eyre directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who also was here and made a splash. Judi Dench was awarded the Crystal Globe for her contribution to cinema and on Saturday she gave a very humorous news conference and really charmed everyone. One of the reporters asked her how she felt about the award since she has won so many, including an Academy Award for best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love. Here’s what she had to say:

“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.

'Markéta Lazarová'

“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. I think if you stop to think 'Oh, I got a prize for this, this and this!' then you get to be complacent and so I think the whole business is that you got to go on getting better at it.”

Is there anything in particular that sets this year’s program apart?

“Remarkably there are a lot of debut films, of the 200, about a third are by first-time directors and then there is an interesting section presenting new Greek film. There is also an entirely new section called Out of the Past, which focuses on older films such as Frantíšek Vláčil’s epic Markéta Lazarová, which was presented by the film’s original star Magdaléna Vášáryová. The director of the festival, Karel Och, also told me about a personal highlight: a tribute to the late American auteur Samuel Fuller, known for his hard-hitting movies about controversial subjects. Films like “Shock Corridor” and “Underworld USA”.

Photo: CTK

Who are other celebrity visitors that we can look forward to?

“American actor John Turturro will be receiving the President’s Award on Friday, so he will be here. He of course has appeared in smaller roles in films by Scorcese, as well as worked with directors like Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers. Many will probably recall his role of Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski. He will be presenting the film Somewhere Tonight which will have its world premiere and that, too, should be big.”