All posts tagged: KVIFF

Iran Oscar Nominee Jafar Panahi Was Invited to Karlovy Vary 2026

Iran Oscar Nominee Jafar Panahi Was Invited to Karlovy Vary 2026

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) was really hoping to welcome Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (It Was Just An Accident) to its 60th edition and 80th anniversary edition in the Czech spa town. But a travel ban for the Oscar nominee and another prison sentence that he is facing in Iran shattered that hope. In early June, an Iranian court upheld a verdict finding Panahi guilty of “propaganda against the regime,” a sentence of one year in prison and a two-year travel ban. The Cannes Palme d’Or 2025 winner is also prohibted from joining political and social groups and associations. The Czech festival had eyed Panahi as a guest as part of the creative team behind Hijamat, a Crystal Globe competition movie from Iranian director Nader Saeivar (The Witness), which was produced and edited by Panahi. The film, starring Kida Khodr Ramadan, Moritz Bleibtreu and Nastassja Kinski, focuses on Murad, 50, whose life is “shaken to the core when he learns that his younger brother is gay,” according to a synopsis. “Murad would like to support his brother, but their traditional Muslim family …

‘Paris Paris’ Film Trailer for KVIFF 2026 Movie About Home (Exclusive)

‘Paris Paris’ Film Trailer for KVIFF 2026 Movie About Home (Exclusive)

Published by Daniella Wilson

Three men squat in a building in the City of Light. None of them is from there originally. Yet, they share quite a bit. Bienvenue à Paris Paris! That is the title of the first fiction feature from Belgian documentary filmmaker Isabelle Tollenaere (Battles, Victoria), a poetic and cinematic exploration of displacement and home. It will world premiere on Tuesday, July 7, in the Proxima competition lineup of the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). The three men at the center of the film are Yi-En from China, Junior from Congo, and Hamzah from Palestine. They share their Spartan apartment, including a fish, and a life in undocumented exile. “An allegory of searching, loss, displacement, and the discovery of new meanings and commonalities” is how the KVIFF website describes the movie. And it highlights that it is “set in one of Europe’s great cities and in a replica of Paris built in China – a metaphor for the immigrants’ old dream of life in a new home and its gradual transformation into a new dream about their …

Karlovy Vary MC Marek Eben Interview on Anniversary, Hollywood Stars

Karlovy Vary MC Marek Eben Interview on Anniversary, Hollywood Stars

Published by Daniella Wilson

Czech actor and TV presenter Marek Eben is a household name in his home country, and not only because he has long featured as the host of the Czech version of Dancing With the Stars. Foreign visitors to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) will also recognize him as the host of the popular opening and closing ceremonies, making him one of the public faces of KVIFF. This year, the festival in the Czech spa town, which unveiled a geographically diverse lineup, is celebrating its 60th anniversary edition in its 80th year. Of course, Eben will be on hand to lead through the much-anticipated opening night. And, as it turns out, he has his own anniversary to celebrate at this year’s edition. Ahead of all the activities, celebrations, star appearances and screenings at Karlovy Vary, THR asked the Czech celebrity about how late legendary Czech actor and long-time fest president Jiří Bartoška, who died last May, brought him to the festival and about his starring roles at KVIFF and beyond. When did you start hosting KVIFF ceremonies …

Meet Slovak Star, Ambassador Magda Vášáryová

Meet Slovak Star, Ambassador Magda Vášáryová

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) celebrates the 80th anniversary of its founding and its 60th edition this year. In addition to Hollywood celebrities, it has long celebrated and honored big Czech stars.   This year, KVIFF will bestow its President’s Award on a famous Slovak actress who became an ambassador and respected voice in political life. “By presenting an award to Magda Vášáryová, the festival aims not just to express its respect for the performances of one of the greatest Slovak actresses of all time, but also to remember the unique artistic connection between the Czech and Slovak filmmakers who shaped our two countries’ shared cinematic history,” organizers said. Slovakia and Czechia became separate independent countries again at the start of 1993, following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Vášáryová “has always been outstanding, including in terms of her intelligence in selecting her parts and her ability to use her depth, both intellectual and emotional, in her characters,” KVIFF artistic director Karel Och tells THR. “With her, it is a bit like with Eric Cantona, who decided, when …

Karlovy Vary to Fete Anniversary With Biggest Czech Drone Show Ever

Karlovy Vary to Fete Anniversary With Biggest Czech Drone Show Ever

Published by Daniella Wilson

The traditional fireworks are just not big enough for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) this year! The Czech fest will kick off its 60th edition in its 80th year on Friday, July 3 with what organizers call the largest drone show ever to be staged in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Replacing the fireworks with which KVIFF traditionally wraps up its opening night in the Czech spa town, following the opening film, a black-tie ceremony and a musical act, the aerial display will seea fleet of 1,300 synchronized drones transforming the night sky. It combines animated aerial imagery with music and narration, fest organizers said. The title of the show is “Stars and Winners of Your Own Story,” and it will tell “a story of courage, creativity and luck,” according to KVIFF organizers. Accompanied by music and voice-over narration, the show will create formations spanning up to 220 meters to illuminate the night sky, they added. The drone spectacular, presented by festival partner Allwyn, a lottery operator, will return for an encore on July 7. “This …

Stellan Skarsgard Will Star in Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2026 Trailer

Stellan Skarsgard Will Star in Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2026 Trailer

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stellan Skarsgård is back to add star power to Karlovy Vary cinema screens. The Swedish star, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier’s international Oscar-winning Sentimental Value, was one of the celebrities gracing the Czech spa town with his presence during the 2025 edition of its big film festival, where he was honored with the KVIFF Crystal Globe Award for his “outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.” Also in the Czech spa town, the actor reflected on his life, career and working with the likes of Lars von Trier and Ingmar Bergman during a recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast in front of a packed house. Now, he stars in the black-and-white trailer for the 2026 edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), the event’s double anniversary of its 60th edition in its 80th year of existence, which runs July 3-11. |Our extraordinary collection of original festival trailers has been expanded to include a micro-story featuring last year’s recipient of a Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World …

Karlovy Vary Film Festival 60 Anniversary: Red Carpet Visual Identity

Karlovy Vary Film Festival 60 Anniversary: Red Carpet Visual Identity

Published by Daniella Wilson

Last year’s visual identity for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) rested on something deceptively simple: an embrace. This year, marking the festival’s double anniversary — its 60th edition, in the 80th year since its founding — the design team has rolled out a different image entirely: a red carpet, stretching out in invitation. Jonatan Kuna, working alongside Aleš Najbrt of Prague-based design house Studio Najbrt, is the creative force behind this year’s look, which will turn up everywhere from festival merchandise to the streets of the picturesque Czech spa town during the event itself. When organizers unveiled the design, the duo described it in deliberately open terms: “The visual has been designed as simply as possible so that it might evoke various associations and interpretations while symbolizing the festival.” THR caught up with Kuna and Najbrt to talk through the thinking — and the history — behind this year’s KVIFF identity. This year’s visual identity for KVIFF is celebrating a double anniversary. What was the inspiration for the red carpet theme?Kuna We were looking …

‘A Whole Person Almost’ Film Clip With Donald Trump Cloud: KVIFF 2026

‘A Whole Person Almost’ Film Clip With Donald Trump Cloud: KVIFF 2026

Published by Daniella Wilson

A man travels to a remote Greek island to claim his late father’s inheritance in a personal and emotional Odyssey in A Whole Person Almost (Enas olokliros anthropos schedon), the feature directorial debut of Greek-German filmmaker Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis. The film world premieres in the Proxima competition of the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), which takes place in the Czech spa town July 3-11. Co-written by Elizampetta Ilia Georgiadou, the movie features cinematography by Christos Voudouris and editing by Livia Neroutsopoulou. Anastasis Georgoulas and Flomaria Papadaki (Animal) star in the Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Cyprus and Romania co-production. The film is produced by Horsefly Films in co-production with Red Carpet, Wunderlust, Felony Film, Tangaj Production, ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel andARTE, ERT, Onassis Culture, Faliro House Productions and Panta Rhei. Ilias arrives on the aforementioned remote island for his late father’s inheritance. “But the longer he is forced to stay on the island, the more his initial indifference begins to fade,” reads a synopsis. “As he interacts with the local community, he uncovers his father’s past and, with it, a portrait …

Rick Baker, Oscar Winner, Makeup Artist, to Get Locarno Vision Award

Rick Baker, Oscar Winner, Makeup Artist, to Get Locarno Vision Award

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Locarno Film Festival will bestow its Vision Award, presented by Ticinomoda, upon Rick Baker, the seven-time Oscar winner behind some of cinema’s most fantastical creatures. Baker will receive the award in the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande on the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 12. He will also present, within the festival program, two key films from his career, namely An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Nutty Professor (1996). “From his early make-up work on genre films in the 1970s to his sophisticated creature and character designs for large-scale studio productions, Rick Baker has forged a new visual grammar for cinematic metamorphosis, earning him a record number of Academy Awards for best makeup and cementing his status as a reference point for generations of artists,” said Locarno organizers. “Over his long career, Rick Baker has transformed Michael Jackson into a zombie in Thriller and turned Jim Carrey into the Grinch.” It concluded: “He has been responsible for crafting unforgettable werewolves to some of the most realistic gorillas ever created for film, each time redefining the audience’s sense of what is real and what is imagined on the big screen.” …

KVIFF 2026 Movie by Nader Saeivar, Jafar Panahi

KVIFF 2026 Movie by Nader Saeivar, Jafar Panahi

Published by Daniella Wilson

A deeply religious Muslim family in Berlin is threatened to be torn apart when a son’s secret relationship with a man is exposed in Hijamat, written and directed by Nader Saeivar (The Witness ) and produced and edited by Jafar Panahi. The creative duo co-wrote Cannes 2025 Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident, which was nominated for two Oscars. The film, featuring a big-name ensemble cast led by Kida Khodr Ramadan (4 Blocks, Asbestos) and also featuring Jael Cem Ilhan, Nicolette Krebitz, Aziz Capkurt, Moritz Bleibtreu and Nastassja Kinski, will world premiere at the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) next month. It will screen in the Czech festival‘s Crystal Globe competition. In Hijamat, Ilhan plays Kerem, whose secret relationship with a man is exposed. The news sends shockwaves through his family and local community. His brother Murad, portrayed by Ramadan, struggles to protect him, while long-buried secrets threaten to emerge and tear the family apart. Murad is “shaken to the core when he learns that his younger brother is gay,” reads a synopsis. …