The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), the largest Czech film gathering, is reverting back to its usual summer slot, which was disrupted due to the pandemic. The upcoming 56^th edition, taking place from 1-9 July, will also see an extension of its industry activities with the launch of KVIFF Talents. “Promoting new talent has always been a central part of the festival’s activities,” says KVIFF’s executive director Kryštof Mucha. “With KVIFF Talents, we are taking these activities to a new level. The program will be another important piece of the puzzle promoting greater originality, creative boldness, and international ambitions by filmmakers from our region.” The new initiative will offer a year-round programme that will support the creation of creative and original audiovisual projects with international ambitions. A selection of filmmakers will receive financing for development, mentoring from experts, and the chance to present their projects to potential producers, partners, and investors at KVIFF. The KVIFF Talents’ inaugural edition is open to applicants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while the next editions will be eligible for talents from other Central and Eastern European territories.

In addition to the new talent platform, KVIFF will host the Work-in-Progress programme of the 13^th edition of the Odesa Film Festival (OIFF WIP Selection), expressing its full support for Ukrainian filmmakers. “Broad solidarity with war-afflicted Ukraine must also include support for the country’s cultural life, which at this moment has come almost to a halt. As a film festival, we have tried to find ways of supporting Ukrainian cinema, and we are glad that we have managed to work with the Odesa Film Festival to find a meaningful form of cooperation,” says Hugo Rosák, head of KVIFF’s Industry Department. “The war has a direct impact on the film industry, so we will hold the Odesa International Film Festival’s industry screenings as part of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. We are honoured to have this opportunity to show Ukrainian cinema, talent, and culture to the world,” said Anna Machuh, the general director of OIFF. Acceptance of applications for the OIFF WIP Selection will be announced in the coming weeks.

This 56^th edition continues the festival’s tradition of premiering digital restorations of classic domestic works. The festival will be introducing the latest version of the film The Joke, directed by Czechoslovak New Wave director Jaromil Jireš and based on the novel of the same name by Milan Kundera. The film, which originally premiered in 1969, was awarded the Silver Siren at a screening of Czech and Slovak films in Sorrento, Italy, and netted an award at the 17^th edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. With the onset of normalisation, this film about how an innocent student prank can ruin a life within an atmosphere of absolute intolerance and spying, was locked away and not shown at more international film festivals until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The festival will also be celebrating a domestic personality: actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director Boleslav Polívka, who will receive the KVIFF President’s Award. While boasting a rich career in theatre and on the big screen, Polívka is also known for his collaboration with the first lady of the Czech cinema, Věra Chytilová, most notoriously on 1992’s The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday which he co-wrote with the director. The festival will screen Forgotten Light (1996), for which Polívka received the best actor award at KVIFF.