The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar-nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members.
The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s KVIFF, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.
Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section, which KVIFF said is “rich in its topical, stylistic and genre variety.” It has five fiction features and three documentaries, shown either in their world or European premieres. French documentary filmmaker Jean-Gabriel Périot will world premiere “Facing Darkness,” while the Sundance-awarded “Slow” by Marija Kavtaradze will be shown for the first time in Europe.
Karel Och, KVIFF’s artistic director, said: “It has been an incredible adventure for the programming team to get acquainted with this year’s state of the arthouse cinema via almost 2,000 submissions. We are proud of the selection and simply cannot wait to share it with the audience.”
On the Crystal Globes jury are Clarkson, producer Dora Bouchoucha, Sundance Film Festival programmer John Nein, director Olmo Omerzu and actor Barry Ward.
The Proxima jury consists of Dana Linssen, a critic, writer and curator, producer Marija Razgutė, documentary director Šimon Šafránek, Barbara Wurm, the new head of Berlinale Forum, and producer Meng Xie.
CRYSTAL GLOBE COMPETITION
“Les chambres rouges” (“Red Rooms”)
Director: Pascal Plante, Canada, world premiere
“Las chicas están bien” (“The Girls Are Alright”)
Director: Itsaso Arana, Spain, world premiere
“Citlivý člověk” (“A Sensitive Person”)
Director: Tomáš Klein, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, world premiere
“Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano”
Director: Cyril Aris, Lebanon, Germany, world premiere
“Fremont”
Director: Babak Jalali, U.S., international premiere
“Hypnosen” (“The Hypnosis”)
Director: Ernst De Geer, Sweden, Norway, France, world premiere
“Il vento soffia dove vuole” (“Where the Wind Blows”)
Director: Marco Righi, Italy, world premiere
“Mokalake Tsmindani” (“Citizen Saint”)
Director: Tinatin Kajrishvili, Georgia, France, Bulgaria, world premiere
“Toorhaye khali” (“Empty Nets”)
Director: Behrooz Karamizade. Germany, Iran, international premiere
“Urotcite na Blaga” (“Blaga’s Lessons”)
Director: Stephan Komandarev. Bulgaria, Germany, world premiere
“Úsvit” (“We Have Never Been Modern”)
Director: Matěj Chlupáček, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, world premiere
PROXIMA COMPETITION
“Arsenie. Viața de apoi” (“Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife”)
Director: Alexandru Solomon, Romania, Luxembourg, international premiere
“Birth”
Director: Ji-young Yoo, South Korea, international premiere
“Brutální vedro” (“Brutal Heat”)
Director: Albert Hospodářský, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, world premiere
“El canto del Auricanturi” (“The Song of the Auricanturi”)
Director: Camila Rodríguez Triana, Colombia, Argentina, world premiere
“Embryo Larva Butterfly”
Director: Kyros Papavassiliou, Cyprus, Greece, world premiere
“Les Enfants Perdus” (“The Lost Children”)
Director: Michèle Jacob, Belgium, world premiere
“Guras”
Director: Saurav Rai, India, Nepal, world premiere
“Imago”
Director: Olga Chajdas, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, world premiere
“In Camera”
Director: Naqqash Kahlid, U.K., world premiere
“Maade Tarik” (“Dark Matter”)
Director: Karim Lakzadeh, Iran, world premiere
“Maman Déchire” (“Keeping Mum”)
Director: Emilie Brisavoine, France, world premiere
“Say God Bye”
Director: Thomas Imbach, Switzerland, world premiere
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
“Bod obnovy” (“Restore Point”)
Director: Robert Hloz, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Serbia, European premiere
“Facing Darkness”
Director: Jean-Gabriel Périot, France, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, world premiere
“Gimiliani Sakartvelo” (“Smiling Georgia”)
Director: Luka Beradze, Georgia, Germany, world premiere
“Hadí plyn” (“Snake Gas”)
Director: David Jařab, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania, world premiere
“Přišla v noci” (“She Came at Night”)
Director: Tomáš Pavlíček, Jan Vejnar. Czech Republic, world premiere
“Richelieu” (“Temporaries”)
Director: Pier-Philippe Chevigny, Canada, France, European premiere
“Slow”
Director: Marija Kavtaradze, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, European premiere
“Všetci ľudia budú bratia” (“All Men Become Brothers”)
Director: Robert Kirchhoff, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, world premiere
