Karlovy Vary, one of the oldest and most prestigious IFF, each year presents over 180 feature films from all over the world. Karlovy Vary opens June 29 and will present 217 films and 22 world premieres until July 7.
Apart from the films in the special retrospectives, many of the movies are screened as world, international or European premieres. Once again this year, audiences will enjoy the competition and non-competition sections, very interesting retrospectives and for the industry only the Works in Progress.
Eight world premieres and four international premieres will be competing in the main competition at the Karlovy Vary IFF, which will also be profiling four talented debut directors. In the Official Selection can be included only films made after January 1, 2011 which are presented as world, international or European premieres.
The Grand Jury for the
Official Selection in Competition will be presided over by Richard Pena of the Film Society of Lincoln Center with members the producer
Maria Hatzakou of
Haos Films (“Attenberg”, “Alps”) the Croatian director
Rajko Grlic, Palestinian-Israeli actor Makram Khoury, Polish writer-director Joanna Kos-Krauze, educator Ivo Mathe, and Quebecois actor Francois Papineau.
Greece, against all odds still attracts international attention for its original and innovative film projects.
"The original, eagerly anticipated debut from one of the greatest talents of Greek film powerfully investigates three days in the life of an Athens boy who is without a job, a girlfriend, or anything to eat. Showing the importance of maintaining human dignity during a time of crisis", according to Karlovy Vary
film page. And the
selection committee continues "Directors from countries severely affected by the economic crisis have also opted for unconventional modes of cinematic storytelling. The Bressonesque existential drama by debuting director Ektoras Lygizos Boy Eating the Bird´s Food is one of the more radical allegorical films to come out of Greece, a country currently producing some of the most interesting works to figure on the international festival circuit".
East of the West – Films in Competition focuses on first and second films by filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe accepting International and European premieres only. Balkan countries will be represented by the following films:
Practical Guide to Belgrade, by
Bojan Vuletić (Serbia)
"In his observational documentary, award-winning director Ilian Metev offers us a highly authentic look at the exhausting and often frustrating work of Sofia’s three-member ambulance crews as they rush to save the lives of people in need in the Bulgarian capital".
Death of a Man in Balkans by
Miroslav Momčilović (Serbia) is chosen to be screened at best indies` section,
Forum of Independents, where independent films from around the world compete for the Independent Camera Award presented in collaboration with Czech Television . "Shot entirely in one take the film follows a lonely composer committing suicide in his apartment. This original, low-budget movie is described as a window onto the
Balkan mentality".
Non-competitive categories
Horizons section where recent productions from around the world, including award-winning films from major festivals will host three Balkan movies.
Cristian Mungiu΄ s
Beyond the Hills (Romania, France, Belgium)- Best Screenplay, and Best Actress shared by the two female leads at the Cannes festival 2012.
Maja Miloš` feature film debut
Clip (Serbia) and
L by
Babis Makridis are featured in the
Another View section, where films displaying unusual artistic approaches are presented.
Variety´s Ten Euro Directors to Watch section hosts the slovenian film
A Trip, by
Nejc Gazvoda.
Reha Erdem Retrospective
As part of its 47th edition, the Karlovy Vary IFF will focus on one of the most outstanding contemporary Turkish directors and screenwriters,
Reha Erdem, screening 6 films out of his filmography:
My Only Sunshine (Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece) is a dreamy film about harsh realities. One of the most beautiful odes to the Bosphorus, the work unfolds the tale of 14-year-old Hayat who lives on a creek with her fisherman-smuggler father and sick grandfather.
Oh, Moon (Turkey)
Reha Erdem’s surreal and poetic first feature, a cult hit in Turkey, reveals a passionate young director obviously enchanted by the artistic possibilities of cinema. Shaped around an old Istanbul family myth, the film offers the tale of an 11-year-old girl who lives in a castle-like mansion on the Bosphorus. There, every night, she sees her dead mother pass by in a small boat.
Building a cinematic structure based on the village azan (call to prayer), the director follow cultural and natural cycles via the lives of three friends in early adolescence. The gracefully framed pastoral beauty of this minimalist film is accompanied by the celestial music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
Cosmos (Turkey, Bulgaria) A mysterious, half-lunatic stranger (a shaman?) arrives at a snowy border town.... This time around, Reha Erdem has put the theme of the conflict between society and the individual in a context of cosmic lyricism. While the expressive sound design supports the town’s uneasy atmosphere, the visuals alternate between views of life, death, and eternity.
Run for money (Turkey)
A fastpaced, dynamic suspense film about an upright family man who doesn’t know how to deal with the huge sum of money he finds in a taxi. He hesitates for just a moment and that instant of moral “identity quake” grows and grows in his mind until Istanbul becomes an eerie and desolate labyrinth
Mommy, I’m scared (Turkey) is a "sweet pie" made up of childhood traumas, fears caused by the steps to manhood, and questions surrounding one’s relationship to one’s own body. Focusing on a group of families, friends, and neighbors, the storyline is set in a nostalgic, romanticized, and colorized version of the "Istanbul neighborhood."
