Karlovy Vary Film Festival Celebrates New Gen of Czech and Slovak Filmmakers: ‘The World Is Waiting’

variety.com:

Marta Balaga Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival is readying for its upcoming edition, featuring “lots of interesting themes, lots of different countries and lots of female directors,” says programmer Vojtěch Kočárník.

Themes of “fragile family bonds and explorations of love driven by complex female characters,” Kočárník says, will also feature prominently in many of the fest’s films, such as Norway’s “Loveable.” In addition, there are a few period dramas with a contemporary touch, such as Margarida Cardoso’s “Banzo,” Bruno Anković’s “Celebration,” about young men seduced by right-wing ideology, and Iveta Grófová’s 1940s-set “Hungarian Dressmaker.” “In many historical films, there is this clear distinction between good and evil.

Here, all the characters have so many layers,” says Kočárník about “Dressmaker.” While the Czech fest, which kicks off June 28, has been opening up to filmmakers all over the world, swapping its East of the West section for the Proxima sidebar only a few years ago, it’s keeping an eye on a new generation of local directors.

One such helmer is Adam Martinec, who is about to make his feature debut with “Our Lovely Pig Slaughter.” “The world is waiting for this film, if I may exaggerate a little,” says KVIFF’s artistic director Karel Och. “You don’t get to see Czech films at the biggest festivals that often, which I hope will change, but I am very confident about this new generation.