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Karlovy Vary Film Festival Roars Back to Life

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variety.com

Will Tizard ContributorThe Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival roared back to life Friday following the disruption of the pandemic years.And the opening ceremony kicked off with a bit of digital disruption: the audience was invited to pull out their mobile phones and follow festival dancers online before they burst onto the stage with a real-life fire show.The Czech Republic’s main event in the art film world, the festival this year screens some 132 narrative and doc films and has become a hub for filmmakers, producers and regional orgs.But even as enthusiastic, unmasked crowds cheered on the launch of the nine-day event at the iconic 70s-tastic Hotel Thermal, a sense of loss pervaded the proceedings.

Many eyes in the hotel’s soaring Grand Hall misted over during the opening night tribute to former fest artistic director Eva Zaoralova, who died in March at 89.In many ways the architect of the modern KVIFF along with fest president Jiri Bartoska, the diminutive, blonde force of nature would have been delighted to see the triumphant return of audiences, stars and a packed screenings calendar.Bartoska said of his longtime partner at KVIFF: “We want to thank Eva for everything she’s done for us – and for the festival.”In the early 90s, Zaoralova, then a respected Czech film critic and journalist, conceived a new vision to restore engagement, sparkle and international creds to KVIFF, which had at that point been run mainly by Cold War-era state officials.Helped along the way in bringing back the buzz by Czech-born Oscar winner Milos Forman, Zaoralova and Bartoska embraced a strategy of educating and exposing a new generation of cinephiles to great film art from around the world.

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