Karlovy Vary prepares Short Films Festival in Prague
by Sakis Kontos
Prague’s efforts to have a competitive international film festival were always bound to fail since the country arguably already has a well established such occasion in Karlovy Vary. But it seems that the Czech capital has found an alternative in the first Prague Short Film Festival which, ironically, is organized by the same people that run the Karlovy Vary event in association with the Prague City Hall.
The festival’s artistic director Stefan Uhrik chose 30 films from 23 countries with a maximum length of 20 minutes for in this year’s first edition, to take place December 8-11 in three Prague cinemas – Lucerna, Svetozor and MAT.
“Short films don’t get enough coverage in the Czech Republic but internationally their importance and the number of festivals that cater for them grow by the day” comments Uhrik, who is also responsible for the Forum of Independents in Karlovy Vary. He says that he was inspired by the amazing amount of short films he is faced with every year while making a selection for the Karlovy Vary event.
Academy award winner Czech director Jan Sverak (Kolya) will head an international jury that will decide who gets the festival’s € 5000 top prize.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
