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KARLOVY VARY 2019

Karlovy Vary unveils the competition titles for its upcoming edition

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- A range of familiar faces are set to return to the main competition, East of the West and the documentary competition

Karlovy Vary unveils the competition titles for its upcoming edition
Lara by Jan Ole Gerster

The upcoming edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (28 June-6 July) will see an array of familiar faces vie for the Crystal Globe in the main competition. Award-winning Bulgarian duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov will be bringing their latest film, The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Kristi…
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
film profile
]
, a small-scale family drama brimming with their signature absurd humour, to the Czech Republic’s oldest film festival. Turkish director Kivanc Sezer is returning with La Belle Indifference, a drama with moments of absurd comedy, as is German director Jan Ole Gerster, with a follow-up project to his critically acclaimed Oh Boy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jan Ole Gerster
film profile
]
, the psychological study Lara, starring German acting legend Corinna Harfouch. Slovak director Marko Škop will also be competing for the main prize, as he will unveil his latest film, Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
, a family drama addressing the pressing social issues of xenophobia and extremism, at Karlovy Vary. Damjan Kozole also has a world premiere on Czech turf on the cards, as he will be revealing Half-Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damjan Kozole
film profile
]
, “a precise study of alienation” complete with black humour.

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The debut feature Aga’s House [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lendita Zeqiraj
film profile
]
 by Kosovar director Lendita Zeqiraj will open the East of the West competition, which will also welcome the Slovakian film Silent Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavol Pekarčík
film profile
]
, a fusion of fiction and documentary directed by Pavol Pekarčík, and the latest film by Estonian director Martti Helde (In the Crosswind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martti Helde
interview: Martti Helde
film profile
]
), Scandinavian Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martti Helde
film profile
]
. This minimalistic study revolves around a difficult relationship between siblings and presents three versions of the same story, asking whether “time can heal the wounds of the past”. Czech filmmaker Michal Hogenauer will unveil his feature-length debut, A Certain Kind of Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Hogenauer
film profile
]
, as a world premiere. Greek helmer Vardis Marinakis will also world-premiere his latest film, Zizotek [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vardis Marinakis
film profile
]
, “a touching tale of harmony and the yearning for intimacy that will captivate audiences with its dreamlike atmosphere”.

The Czech Republic will also be represented in the documentary competition, by Martin Mareček’s documentary road movie Over the Hills [+see also:
trailer
interview: Martin Mareček
film profile
]
. He will be joined by seasoned Latvian documentarian Laila Pakalnina and her wordless film Spoon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laila Pakalnina
film profile
]
. “An almost tangible cinematic fabric that weaves a tale of an abandoned place” is how The Last Autumn [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
is described; the Icelandic doc by Yrsa Roca Fannberg has been added to the selection of documentary films along with Ksenia Okhapkina’s Immortal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ksenia Okhapkina
film profile
]
, a film investigating how the mechanisms of political power influence the lives of a country’s inhabitants. 

More Czech films will be screened out of competition in the official selection, such as Ondřej Provazník and Martin Dušek’s fiction feature debut Old-Timers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Dušek, Ondřej Provaz…
film profile
]
, about two ageing former political prisoners who set out to kill a communist prosecutor, and a biographical documentary straight out of Cannes, Forman vs. Forman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Helena Třeštíková and Jakub Hejna. Czech documentary veteran Olga Sommerová will present the portrait of a leading figure in Czech culture, Jiří Suchý – Tackling Life with Ease [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, as a world premiere. US-based Czech filmmaker Martin Krejčí will unveil his feature-length debut, the coming-of-age story The True Adventures of Wolfboy, starring John Turturro. Finally, the festival will screen the first two episodes of HBO’s latest European spy drama, The Sleepers, as an exclusive pre-premiere. The series is directed by Ivan Zachariáš, who previously co-helmed another local HBO production, Wasteland.

The 54th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will run from 28 June-6 July 2019.

Here is the full list of competition titles:

Competition

The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Kristi…
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
film profile
]
 – Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)
Patrick [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Tim Mi…
interview: Tim Mielants
film profile
]
 – Tim Mielants (Belgium)
The Man from the Future – Felipe Ríos (Chile/Argentina)
La Belle Indifference – Kivanc Sezer (Turkey)
Lara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Jan-Ol…
interview: Jan Ole Gerster
film profile
]
 – Jan Ole Gerster (Germany)
Mosaic Portrait – Yixiang Zhai (China)
Monsoon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hong Khaou
film profile
]
 – Hong Khaou (UK)
Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
 – Marko Škop (Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Ode to Nothing – Dwein Baltazar (Philippines)
Half-Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damjan Kozole
film profile
]
 – Damjan Kozole (Slovenia/Macedonia/Serbia/Croatia)
To the Stars – Martha Stephens (USA)
The August Virgin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonás Trueba
film profile
]
 – Jonás Trueba (Spain)

East of the West Competition

Last Visit – Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan (Saudi Arabia)
Arrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrei Cohn
film profile
]
 – Andrei Cohn (Romania)
The Bull [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Boris Akopov (Russia)
Passed by Censor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Serhat Karaaslan
film profile
]
 – Serhat Karaaslan (Turkey/Germany/France)
Silent Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavol Pekarčík
film profile
]
 – Pavol Pekarčík (Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Mamonga [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Stefan…
interview: Stefan Malesevic
film profile
]
 – Stefan Malešević (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro)
My Thoughts Are Silent [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Antonio Lukich (Ukraine)
Nova Lituania [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karolis Kaupinis
film profile
]
 – Karolis Kaupinis (Lithuania)
Aga’s House [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lendita Zeqiraj
film profile
]
 – Lendita Zeqiraj (Kosovo/Croatia/France/Albania)
Scandinavian Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martti Helde
film profile
]
 – Martti Helde (Estonia/France/Belgium)
A Certain Kind of Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Hogenauer
film profile
]
 – Michal Hogenauer (Czech Republic/Netherlands/Latvia)
Zizotek [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vardis Marinakis
film profile
]
 – Vardis Marinakis (Greece)

Documentary Competition

17 Blocks – Davy Rothbart (USA)
Apollo 11 – Todd Douglas Miller (USA)
The Fading Village – Liu Feifang (China)
Over the Hills [+see also:
trailer
interview: Martin Mareček
film profile
]
 – Martin Mareček (Czech Republic)
Up to Down [+see also:
trailer
interview: Nazareno Manuel Nicoletti
film profile
]
 – Nazareno Manuel Nicoletti (Italy)
In the Arms of Morpheus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Marc Schmidt (Netherlands)
Spoon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laila Pakalnina
film profile
]
 – Laila Pakalnina (Latvia/Norway/Lithuania)
Confucian Dream – Mijie Li (China)
Projectionist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yuriy Shylov
film profile
]
 – Yuriy Shylov (Ukraine/Poland)
The Last Autumn [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Yrsa Roca Fannberg (Iceland)
Immortal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ksenia Okhapkina
film profile
]
 – Ksenia Okhapkina (Estonia/Latvia) 

Official Selection – Out of Competition

Mystify: Michael Hutchence – Richard Lowenstein (Australia)
Old-Timers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Dušek, Ondřej Provaz…
film profile
]
 – Martin Dušek, Ondřej Provazník (Czech Republic)
The True Adventures of Wolfboy – Martin Krejčí (USA)
The Sleepers – Ivan Zachariáš (Czech Republic) (TV Mini-series)
Forman vs. Forman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Helena Třeštíková, Jakub Hejna (Czech Republic/France)
Jiří Suchý – Tackling Life with Ease [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Olga Sommerová (Czech Republic)
The Downfall of the Secluded Berhof – Jiří Svoboda (Czechoslovakia/Poland) (1983)

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