14/06/2005

The countdown for the 40th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival started Monday when the festival’s president Jiri Bartoska presented the films in the official competition and confirmed the names on the festival’s party guest list. 14 films, of which 10 are European productions, have been selected to compete for top honors in this year’s Karlovy Vary, July 1st-9th. According to Bartoska all are films which were completed after January 1, 2004 and should have their world, international or European premiere at the festival. All but three of the European films are co-productions. "We could have had more films but 14 is just about the right number for our jury, it means they can watch two films [in competition] per day" said the festival’s program director Eva Zaoralova.

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This year’s jury is headed by British director, producer and screenwriter Michael Radford. The festival’s guest list is headed by acclaimed American actor and director Robert Redford who will be presented with a lifetime achievement award during the festival as will be the case with Norwegian actress and director Liv Ulmann. The media hype seems to be provided by the confirmation of the arrival of American actress Sharon Stone, with whom the festival organizers are said to have been negotiating terms for almost four years.
The winners of the 2005 Cannes and Berlin festivals, Child [+see also:
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interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] (L’Enfant) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (Carmen from Khayelitshi) by Mark Dornford-May respectively, will also be shown out of competition. They head a total of 220 feature films which will be screened during the festival’s nine days. Of those 190 have apparently never been shown in the Czech Republic. "33 of those films will have their European premiere in Karlovy Vary, while 16 will have their world premiere" said Zaoralova.

Karlovy Vary’s films in the official selection – competition:

Martin Sulík - The City of the Sun (Slunecní stat)
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2005

Márta Mészáros - The Unburied Man (A temetetlen halott)
Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic, 2004

Colin Nutley - The Queen of Sheba´s Pearls [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Sweden, United Kingdom, 2004

Igor Sterk - Tuning
Slovenia, 2005

Angelina Maccarone - Unveiled (Fremde Haut)
Germany, Austria, 2005

Henrik Ruben Genz - Chinaman (Kinamand)
Denmark, China, 2005

Raoul Ruiz - The Lost Dominion (Le domaine perdu)
France, Romania, Spain, Italy, 2004

Roberto Faenza - Come into the Light (Alla luce del sole)
Italy, 2005

Krzysztof Krauze - My Nikifor (Mój Nikifor)
Poland, 2004

Pavel Chukhrai - A Driver for Vera (Voditel dlja Very)
Russia, 2004