05/06/2012 - Premieres of new films by Jan Jakub Kolski and Marco Tullio Giordana are among the 12 selected titles

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced the lineup of its four competitive sections with the Official Selection – Competition in the spotlight. Eight world and four international premieres will contend for the Crystal Globe. Films from Norway, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Greece were selected as well as titles from Iran, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

Marco Tullio Giordana's Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy [+see also:
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One of those is the Greek film Boy Eating the Bird's Food by Ektoras Lygizos, a strong and raw allegory from a nation struggling with its economic crisis. The Austrian film Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing... is an equally strong but also more sensitive title dealing with the immigrants issue.

Czech cinema will be represented by the unusual Polski Film by Marek Najbrt, who is known for his dynamic WW2 drama The Protector. In Hay Road, Portuguese filmmaker Rodrigo Areias combines quotes from Henry D. Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience with a traditional western theme reaching an unexpected philosophical realm.

From outside Europe, Iranian director Ali Mosaffa returns to Karlovy Vary with The Last Step starring Leila Hatami (A Separation). Other debuts come from Japan (Kamihate Store) and Mexico (Nos vemos, papá, directed by Camera d’Or winning screenwriter Lucia Carreras).

The 47th Karlovy Vary IFF runs from June 29 to July 7.