20/06/2025 - After a four-year hiatus from episodic content, the festival will present the world premiere of the miniseries Absolute 100 and, for the first time, will give a video game the big-screen treatment

The miniseries Absolute 100, created by Srdan Golubović in collaboration with Stefan Ivančić, Katarina Mutić and Nikola Stojanović

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF, 4-12 July) has unveiled the full line-up for its 59th edition, building on the previously announced competition sections (see the news). This year, the festival is curating a retrospective dedicated to John Garfield (see the news), while the Out of the Past section will screen Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, Man Bites Dog by Rémy Belvaux and Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah. The festival has added several titles to the Special Screenings section, including the world premiere of the Serbian miniseries Absolute 100 [+see also:
series review
series profile], created by Srdan Golubović in collaboration with his former students Stefan Ivančić, Katarina Mutić and Nikola Stojanović. This marks the KVIFF’s return to the episodic format after a four-year absence from showcasing work for the small screen. The miniseries centres on a teenage shooting champion who, after killing the son of a powerful politician to protect her brother, finds herself drawn into an escalating cycle of violence that threatens to engulf her family.

Other additions to the section include the cinematic debut of a Czech video game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Cinematic Cut, specially created for the festival. Commenting on the inclusion, the festival’s artistic director, Karel Och, stated: “We are honoured to be working together with world leaders in their field on this unique project, which represents an exceptionally original contribution to our long-standing goal of presenting powerful and gripping stories captured in a unique manner.”

The Horizons strand offers a rich cross-section of European cinema interrogating evolving social structures and institutional failures. Italy stands out with a diverse trio: Paolo Genovese’s surreal rom-com Madly [+see also:
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film profile], Greta Scarano’s warm dramedy Siblings [+see also:
film review
film profile] and Gabriele Mainetti’s La città proibita [+see also:
film review
film profile], a genre-bending immigrant noir set in Rome. Meanwhile, Gianluca Matarrese’s documentary The Good Doctor [+see also:
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interview: Gianluca Matarrese
film profile] offers a quietly moving tribute to inclusive healthcare. From France and Belgium, Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys’ We Believe You [+see also:
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interview: Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte…
film profile] and Alexe Poukine’s Kika [+see also:
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interview: Alexe Poukine
film profile] confront the systemic marginalisation of women, be it in courtrooms or the sex economy. Elsewhere, Dreams [+see also:
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interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] by Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway) traces adolescent desire with diaristic intimacy, while Germany’s Sound of Falling [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Mascha Schilinski crafts a gothic, multi-generational study of trauma. Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25 [+see also:
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film profile] (Romania) delivers his signature satire of nationalist apathy, while Piotr Winiewicz’s About a Hero [+see also:
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interview: Piotr Winiewicz
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Women’s perspectives resonate across the section, from Eva Libertad’s Deaf [+see also:
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interview: Eva Libertad
film profile], a sonically immersive portrayal of motherhood, to Hlynur Pálmason’s The Love That Remains [+see also:
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interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile], a melancholic marital elegy. Youthful awakenings fuel Brendan Canty’s Christy [+see also:
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interview: Brendan Canty
film profile] and Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls [+see also:
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film profile], while Alexandra Makarová’s Perla [+see also:
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interview: Alexandra Makarová
film profile] is about a single mother who fled communist Czechoslovakia and who has to return to her homeland in order to pay an old debt. The section will also screen the recent Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Jafar Panahi along with Nadav Lapid’s Yes [+see also:
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film profile], which delivers a searing critique of cultural identity post-7 October. Ukraine is represented by two entries: Kateryna Gornostai’s Timestamp [+see also:
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interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile], a meditative chronicle of school life under siege, and the frontline documentary 2000 Metres to Andriivka [+see also:
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film profile] by Mstyslav Chernov.

The Imagina section, dedicated to experimental cinema, will screen Ben Rivers’ documentary Bogencloch [+see also:
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interview: Ben Rivers
film profile], Iva Radivojević’s When the Phone Rang [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Iva Radivojević
film profile], and Lilith Kraxner and Milena Czernovsky’s bluish [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]. The revamped Midnight Screenings sidebar, now called Afterhours, will offer a selection of the latest horror and action flicks, including Michael Middelkoop’s Dutch horror-comedy Straight Outta Space.

The full line-up is available to peruse here.