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KARLOVY VARY 2015

Anniversary edition of Karlovy Vary unveils competition titles

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- New filmmaking talents will duke it out in the competition sections of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Anniversary edition of Karlovy Vary unveils competition titles
Those Who Fall Have Wings by Peter Brunner

The Czech Republic’s biggest film gathering, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (3-11 July), is about to celebrate its semi-centennial anniversary, although the festive mood was already established in April, at the festival’s birthday party in Hollywood. As usual, the main competition boasts several world premieres, including the new drama by Romanian director Florin Serban, Box [+see also:
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]
, which is “a story of two people who meet at a crossroads. Two different destinies, two different lives, face to face in a game of sweat, blood and tears.” Also taking part are Peter Brunner’s Those Who Fall Have Wings [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Brunner
film profile
]
; Ukrainian filmmaker Eva Neymann’s poetic film Song of Songs [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
; Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s feature debut, Antonia [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
film profile
]
, a biopic of the artist Antonia Pozzi; François Péloquin’s first feature-length outing, the family drama The Sound of Trees; and a Polish-Czech-Slovakian co-production, the psychological thriller The Red Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marcin Koszalka
film profile
]
, which is the fiction feature debut by Polish documentarian and cinematographer Marcin Koszalka, examining the origins of evil in a story inspired by a Polish teenage mass murderer. Two domestic titles will also be competing for the main prize: Home Care [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Slávek Horák
film profile
]
by Slávek Horák, set to be screened as a world premiere, and the already critically acclaimed drama The Snake Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Prušinovský
film profile
]
by Jan Prušinovský. The new movies by Dietrich Bruggemann and Anca Damian, along with the first fiction feature efforts by Daniel Dencik, Visar Morina and Diego Ongaro, round off the main competition.

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The Brazilian debut film Hopefuls by Ives Rosenfeld will open the Forum of Independents competition section, while another domestic entry will also be competing and will have its world premiere there – namely, David by Jan Těšitel, about a man with an intellectual disability searching for the meaning in his own existence. The Swedish film Guerrilla by Anders Hazelius, the Belgian psychological drama Beyond Here by Hugo Bousquet, Tali Shalom-Ezer’s debut, Princess, and the first film by controversial British writer Helen Walsh, the gritty drama The Violators, are among the other titles selected for this section.

The Czech-Polish debut Journey to Rome [+see also:
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]
by Tomasz Mielnik will open East of the West, a competition focusing on films from the former Soviet bloc, where Gyula Nemes’ long-awaited film Zero [+see also:
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film profile
]
will be screened as a world premiere, alongside Ivona Juka’s debut, You Carry Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivona Juka
film profile
]
, the sophomore feature by Albanian director Bujar Alimani, Chromium [+see also:
film review
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interview: Bujar Alimani
film profile
]
, and Polish cinematographer Bartek Prokopowicz’s first foray into directing, Chemo [+see also:
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]
, inspired by his wife’s struggle with cancer. The Czech Republic will also be represented in this competition by young director Vít Zapletal and his graduation film, Dust of the Ground [+see also:
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interview: Vit Zapletal
film profile
]
, in which “the reverential mood invites meditations about the fundamental questions of life”.

The retrospective sections will focus on a country with “one of the longest cinematic histories in the Middle East”: A Week of Lebanese Cinema will present eight handpicked titles made over the last 25 years, while five films that managed to create “an icon among female directors” will be showcased in a special focus dedicated to Larisa Shepitko. Tribute will also be paid to two late American actors, John Cazale and Chris Penn.

Competition:
Heil [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dietrich Brüggemann
film profile
]
- Dietrich Brüggemann (Germany)
The Red Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marcin Koszalka
film profile
]
 - Marcin Koszalka (Poland, Slovakia)
Gold Coast [+see also:
trailer
interview: Daniel Dencik
film profile
]
- Daniel Dencik (Denmark)
Antonia [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
film profile
]
 - Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (Italy, Greece)
Babai [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Visar Morina
film profile
]
- Visar Morina (Germany, Macedonia, Kosovo, France)
The Magic Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Anca Damian (Romania, Poland, France)
Song of Songs - Eva Neymann (Ukraine)
Bob and the Trees [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Diego Ongaro (United States, France)
Box [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Florin Serban (Romania, Germany, France)
The Sound of Trees - François Peloquin (Canada)
Those Who Fall Have Wings [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Brunner
film profile
]
 - Peter Brunner (Austria)
Home Care [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Slávek Horák
film profile
]
 - Slávek Horák (Czech Republic)
The Snake Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Prušinovský
film profile
]
 - Jan Prušinovský (Czech Republic)

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