The 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will return in late August with a lineup of 32 new feature films plus an extensive tribute to Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, KVIFF organizers announced on Tuesday.
The two main sections of the festival, the Crystal Globe Competition and the East of the West Competition, will for the first time include documentary films, which in the past had been excluded from competition or kept in their own sections.
The Film Foundation tribute will include screenings of 10 films restored by the organization Scorsese founded in 1990. They will include Michael Curtiz’s 1950 Hemingway adaptation “The Breaking Point,” the 1934 Mexican horror classic “The Phantom of the Convent,” Timité Bassori’s Ivory Coast drama “The Woman With the Knife,” Robert Downey Sr.’s 1969 satire “Putney Swope,” George Cukor’s 1932 film “What Price Hollywood?” and John Cassavetes’ indie classic “A Woman Under the Influence.”
The festival will open on Aug. 20 with the world premiere of “Zátopek,” a drama from Czech director David Ondricek (“In the Shadow”) about the endurance runner Emil Zatopek. KVIFF will run through Aug. 28, a later-than-usual date on the calendar that was chosen not to interfere with this year’s delayed Cannes Film Festival, which is being held in Karlovy Vary’s usual early-July slot.
The main competition will include a dozen films representing 15 different countries, with a particular emphasis on Central and Eastern European cinema. The entries include “Boiling Point,” a British drama about an overworked chef that unspools in a single take; “Wars,” director Nicholas Roy’s tale of a young woman who joins the army; “Every Single Minute,” a Czech documentary that follows a year in the life of a 4-year-old boy subject to a complex and intense child-rearing regimen; and “Zbornica” (“The Staffroom”), a Croatian film about the power struggles and intrigue in a school.
Additional programming will be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival also revealed a number of works at various stages of completion that will take part in online industry sessions between July 28 and Aug. 12, with 110,000 Euro in prizes available for competing films.
KVIFF is one of the world’s oldest festivals, launching in 1946, and the largest and most prestigious festival in Central and Eastern Europe. It takes place in Karlovy Vary, a spa town about 80 miles west of Prague in the Czech Republic.
The full lineup:
CRYSTAL GLOBE COMPETITION (MAIN COMPETITION)
“Atlas ptáků” / “Bird Atlas”
Director: Olmo Omerzu
Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, 2021, 92 min, World premiere
“Boiling Point”
Director: Philip Barantini
United Kingdom, 2020, 94 min, World premiere
“Ezmûn” / “The Exam”
Director: Shawkat Amin Korki
Germany, Iraq, Qatar, 2021, 89 min, World premiere
“Guerres” / “Wars”
Director: Nicolas Roy
Canada, 2021, 84 min, World premiere
“Každá minuta života” / “Every Single Minute”
Director: Erika Hníková
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 80 min, World premiere
“Láska pod kapotou” / “At Full Throttle”
Director: Miro Remo
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 85 min, World premiere
“Nö”
Director: Dietrich Brüggemann
Germany, 2021, 119 min, World premiere
“Le Prince”
Director: Lisa Bierwirth
Germany, 2021, 125 min, World premiere
“Strahinja Banović” / “As Far as I Can Walk”
Director: Stefan Arsenijević
Serbia, France, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Lithuania, 2021, 92 min, World premiere
“La terra dei figli” / “The Land of the Sons”
Director: Claudio Cupellini
Italy, 2021, 118 min, International premiere
“Zbornica” / “The Staffroom”
Director: Sonja Tarokić
Croatia, 2021, 126 min, World premiere
“Zpráva o záchraně mrtvého” / “Saving One Who Was Dead”
Director: Václav Kadrnka
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, France, 2021, 90 min, World premiere
EAST OF THE WEST – COMPETITION
“Bliscy” / “Dear Ones”
Director: Grzegorz Jaroszuk
Poland, Czech Republic, 2021, 74 min, World premiere
“Bėgikė” / “Runner”
Director: Andrius Blaževičius
Lithuania, Czech Republic, 2021, 87 min, World premiere
“Jednotka intenzivního života” / “Intensive Life Unit”
Director: Adéla Komrzý
Czech Republic, 2021, 73 min, World premiere
“Koreni” / “Roots”
Director: Tea Lukač
Serbia, 2021, 80 min, World premiere
“Külön falka” / “Wild Roots”
Director: Hajni Kis
Hungary, Slovak Republic, 2021, 98 min, World premiere
“Marťanské lode” / “Two Ships”
Director: Jan Foukal
Czech Republic, Norway, 2021, 76 min, World premiere
“Nuuccha”
Director: Vladimir Munkuev
Russia, 2021, 107 min, World premiere
“Otar’s Death”
Director: Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze
Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, 2021, 106 min, World premiere
“Patchwork”
Director: Petros Charalambous
Cyprus, Israel, Slovenia, 2021, 86 min, World premiere
“Poslije zime” / “After the Winter”
Director: Ivan Bakrač
Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, 2021, 101 min, World premiere
“Sestri” / “Sisterhood”
Director: Dina Duma
North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, 2021, 90 min, World premiere
“Zrcadla ve tmě” / “Mirrors in the Dark”
Director: Šimon Holý
Czech Republic, 2021, 84 min, World premiere
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
“Annees 20” / “Roaring 20’s”
Director: Elisabeth Vogler
France, 2021, 90 min, European premiere
“Brighton 4th”
Director: Levan Koguashvili
Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, USA, Monaco, 2021, 95 min, European premiere
“Moje slunce Mad” / “My Sunny Maad”
Director: Michaela Pavlátová
Czech Republic, France, Slovak Republic, 2021, 81 min, International premiere
“O slavnosti a hostech” / “The Party and the Guests”
Director: Jan Němec
Czechoslovakia, 1966, 71 min
“Podezření” / “Suspicion”
Director: Michal Blaško
Czech Republic, France, 2022, 68 min, World premiere
“Rekonstrukce okupace” / “Reconstruction of Occupation”
Director: Jan Šikl
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 95 min, World premiere
“Sny o toulavých kočkách” / “Dreams About Stray Cats”
Director: David Sís
Czech Republic, USA, France, 2020, 96 min, World premiere
“Zátopek”
Director: David Ondříček
Czech Republic, 2021, 131 min, World premiere
THE FILM FOUNDATION TRIBUTE
“Alyam, alyam” / “Oh the Days!”
Director: Ahmed El Maanouni
Morocco, 1978, 80 min
“The Breaking Point”
Director: Michael Curtiz
USA, 1950, 97 min
“El fantasma del convento” / “The Phantom of the Convent”
Director: Fernando de Fuentes
Mexico, 1934, 85 min
“La femme au couteau” / “The Woman with the Knife”
Director: Timité Bassori
Ivory Coast, 1969, 80 min
“Gŭ lĭng jiē shàonián shārén shìjiàn” / “A Brighter Summer Day”
Director: Edward Yang
Taiwan, 1991, 237 min
“Nidhanaya” / “The Treasure”
Director: Lester James Peries
Sri Lanka, 1973, 108 min
“Putney Swope”
Director: Robert Downey Sr.
USA, 1969, 84 min
“Queen of Diamonds”
Director: Nina Menkes
USA, 1991, 77 min
“What Price Hollywood?”
Director: George Cukor
USA, 1932, 88 min
“A Woman Under the Influence”
Director: John Cassavetes
USA, 1974, 155 min
KVIFF EASTERN PROMISES
Works in Progress:
“And His Brothers” (Russia, Germany, Belgium)
“Aurora” (Hungary)
“Boney Piles” (Ukraine)
“Destiny“ (Iran)
“Faggots, Friends” (Poland, United Kingdom, Germany)
“In the Name of the Mother and of the Father” (Romania)
“A Long Break” (Georgia)
“Lucky Girl” (Ukraine)
“An Owl, a Garden and the Writer” (Iran)
“Tina & Megi” (Georgia, Germany)
“Unwanted” (Russia)
“Victim“ (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany)
Works in Development – Feature Launch:
“ALIYA” (Israel, Russia, Poland)
“Bijuterie“ (Lithuania, Italy)
“The Bomber” (Latvia)
“Brothers” (Montenegro)
“Head Nurse“ (Czech Republic)
“Leave the Door Open” (Croatia)
“No Reverse” (Montenegro)
“Thinking David” (Czech Republic)
“What It Feels Like for a Girl” (Estonia)
First Cut+:
“The Hatcher” (Poland)
“A Hope“ (Turkey, Germany, Slovenia)
“Metamorphoses“ (Serbia, Croatia)
“Narcosis” (Netherlands)
“A Piece of Sky” (Switzerland, Germany)
“Power“ (Slovakia)
“Upurga“ (Latvia)
“Valeria Is Getting Married” (Israel, Ukraine)
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