The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival reveals its competition titles

by Martin Kudláč

28/05/2024 - The largest Czech film gathering is poised to showcase a blend of established auteurs and fresh voices, with an emphasis on domestic cinema

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival reveals its competition titles

The Hungarian Dressmaker by Iveta Grófová

The 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF, 28 June-6 July) – the largest film gathering in the Czech Republic – has unveiled its competition selections in addition to the already revealed Franz Kafka retrospective (see the news). Karel Och, KVIFF's artistic director, noted: “The 58th KVIFF official selection, the eagerly watched core of the festival's annual line-up, comprising the Crystal Globe and Proxima Competitions as well as the Special Screenings programme, offers a unique array of vibrant genres and themes coursing through contemporary cinema.”

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The main competitive section of the festival, the Crystal Globe Competition, presents a selection of both seasoned directors with major film-festival experience and debutants showcasing their talent. The Crystal Globe jury – which includes producer Christine Vachon, actor Geoffrey Rush, Hungarian director Gábor Reisz, Icelandic author Sjón and Czech actress Eliška Křenková – will be deliberating over a range of titles. These include the new films by Venice Lion of the Future winner White Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile] director Noaz Deshe, Xoftex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile], set in a Greek refugee camp in which asylum seekers film satirical sketches while they await news on their status; renowned British documentary filmmaker Mark Cousins, A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things [+see also:
film review
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile], on modern British artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham; and Venice's Giornate degli Autori entry Between 10 and 12 [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile] helmer Peter Hoogendoorn, Three Days of Fish [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile], a glimpse into the relationship between a father and a son who have grown apart; as well as Bruno Anković's Celebration [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Anković
film profile], set in a war-torn Croatian village between 1926 and 1945; Margarida Cardoso’s Banzo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margarida Cardoso
film profile], set in 1907 on Prince’s Island and exploring the affliction of slave nostalgia; Lilja Ingolfsdottir's Loveable [+see also:
film review
interview: Lilja Ingolfsdottir
film profile], a contemporary and intimate divorce drama; George Sikharulidze's Panopticon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: George Sikharulidze
film profile], an exploration of the Georgian society, stuck between religious conservatism and the desire for modernisation; Nelicia Low’s Pierce [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nelicia Low
film profile], a thriller about brotherly bonds and hidden truths; and Rude to Love by Japan's Yukihiro Morigaki.

The Proxima Competition is set to welcome a variety of entries, including Pavel G Vesnakov’s Windless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavel G Vesnakov
film profile], an existential reflection on family and identity in modern-day Bulgaria; Abdellah Taïa’s Cabo Negro [+see also:
film review
film profile], a queer ode to youth and self-discovery set in a Moroccan resort; Ivana Gloria’s Chlorophyll [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivana Gloria
film profile], a richly coloured story of personal growth; Anja Kreis’ The Alienated [+see also:
trailer
interview: Anja Kreis
film profile], a mystical film raising questions about human conscience, morality and faith; and Victoria Verseau's Trans Memoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victoria Verseau
film profile], an intimate diary on the director's gender transition journey. The section is completed by European co-productions Nothing in Its Place [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Burak Çevik, Stranger [+see also:
film review
interview: Zhengfan Yang
film profile] by Zhengfan Yang and Night Has Come [+see also:
film review
interview: Paolo Tizón
film profile] by Paolo Tizón, as well as Second Chance by India's Subhadra Mahajan and Tropicana by Israel's Omer Tobi. The Proxima jury will be made up of Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kordofani, producer Bianca Balbuena, Morelia International Film Festival founder Daniela Michel, Square Eyes founder Wouter Jansen and Czech filmmaker Adéla Komrzý.

The forthcoming edition of KVIFF will host ten films in its Special Screenings section, showcasing a range of topics, styles and genres. This selection, comprising both fiction features and documentaries, is designed to complement KVIFF's official selection and this year involves Jan Zajíček’s Czechoslovak Architecture 58–89 [+see also:
film review
film profile], which takes a look at the subject area hinted at by its title; Alireza Ghasemi and Raha Amirfazli’s In the Land of Brothers [+see also:
film review
interview: Raha Amirfazli, Alireza Gha…
film profile], a poignant look at Afghan refugees in Iran; and Oleh Sentsov’s Real [+see also:
film review
interview: Oleh Sentsov
film profile], a hyper-documentary offering a unique insight into the reality of the war in Ukraine.

Domestic cinema will once again be richly represented across all sections. Iveta Grófová’s The Hungarian Dressmaker [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile], Adam Martinec’s Our Lovely Pig Slaughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adam Martinec
film profile] and Beata Parkanová’s Tiny Lights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Beata Parkanová
film profile] will premiere in the main competition. The feature-length debut by Paula Ďurinová, Lapilli [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paula Ďurinová
film profile], “finds a unique balance between the personal and the environmental in a modernistic requiem full of perceptive observations on natural phenomena and on man himself”, and will make an appearance in the Proxima Competition, paired with Martin Pavol Repka’s March to May [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Pavol Repka
film profile], “an understated, intimate portrait of family togetherness, which is often expressed in the smallest of ways”. Jiří Havelka’s The Gardener's Year [+see also:
film review
film profile] will be unveiled in the Special Screenings strand, along with Marie-Magdalena Kochová’s The Other One [+see also:
film review
film profile] (about children who, because they have a special-needs sibling, are neglected by their family), Klára Tasovská’s I’m Not Everything I Want to Be [+see also:
film review
interview: Klára Tasovská
film profile] and Jiří Mádl’s Waves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jiří Mádl
film profile].