19/06/2014 - KVIFF will boast out-of-competition world premieres, including the feature debut by Jake Hoffman, and new films by Shawkat Amin Korki and Zdeněk Jiráský, among others

The biggest Czech film festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (4-12 July), has disclosed its complete line-up. The 49^th edition will offer several world (Adventure by Nariman Turebayev, Nowhere in Moravia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Miroslav Krobot, Patchwork Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Pascal Rabaté, All Yours [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: David Lambert
film profile] by David Lambert, Paris of the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson and Corn Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: George Ovashvili
film profile] by George Ovashvili to name just a few) and international premieres (Fair Play [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Andrea Sedláčková, Free Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Gyorgy Palfi, and Welcome Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Angelina Nikonova, among others). Meanwhile, animated film will feature in the main competition for the first time (Rocks in My Pockets [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Signe Baumane
film profile] by Latvian filmmaker Signe Baumane). Two domestic films will be also competing for the main prize (Fair Play and Nowhere in Moravia). 

KVIFF will kick off with American sci-fi drama I Origins as an international premiere, and the film will be personally introduced by lead actor Michael Pitt, the director Mike Cahill and actress Astrid Bergès-Frisbey. Out-of-competition world premieres include Asthma, the directorial debut by Jake Hoffman, the son of Dustin Hoffman, which is an authentic look at today’s New York bohemian scene; an investigation into the traumatising events in Iraq, Memories on Stone, by Shawkat Amin Korki; and domestic offering In Silence by award-winning director Zdeněk Jiráský, who teamed up with Slovak producer Lívia Filusová to cover an event from the most tragic chapter in 20th-century history. Instead of his planned documentary tracing the fate of several Jewish musicians, he ultimately made a feature film with exceptional visual and emotional impact, in which he “examines an ostensibly exhausted cinematic theme with invention and extraordinary intensity”.

The East of the West competition, dedicated to first and second feature films by filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey and the former Soviet Union, will open with Hungarian film Afterlife [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Virág Zomborácz
film profile] by Virág Zomborácz in a world premiere. After Mózes starts seeing the ghost of his authoritative, recently deceased father, the diffident and insecure young man is forced to take matters into his own hands: he has to deal with the relationship with his father once and for all. It is described as “an energetic debut in a refreshing blend of genres, combining humorous episodes verging on the bizarre with elements of high drama”. The section will also introduce Czech film Delight [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jitka Rudolfová as an international premiere. It revolves around the theme of obsession, and the festival describes the modern metropolitan drama as follows: “Film editor Milena is in love with Vladimír, but their shaky relationship is mainly based on texting. Although the protagonists’ daily lives have a certain flair, it is more apt to speak of dislocated personalities that are seeking something, even if this proves to be a futile quest.”

The complete line-up for the 49^th edition of the KVIFF is available to view here.