The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival returns to the Czech spa town from 4 to 12 July for its 59th edition, the first since the 8 May death of longtime president Jiří Bartoška, aged 78. Executive director Kryštof Mucha, now chair of the festival group, said the tribute will be upbeat because Bartoška “would have scolded us if we gave in to gloom”.
Opening-night events include a documentary, a special screening and an open-air photo exhibition celebrating Bartoška’s three decades of leadership. Organisers will also welcome guests such as Michael Douglas, Stellan Skarsgård, Dakota Johnson, Vicky Krieps and Peter Sarsgaard, who will present films or receive festival honours.
This year’s programme features 34 titles—13 of them debuts—spread across the Crystal Globe competition, the Proxima strand and Special Screenings. Czech cinema is strongly represented with Ondřej Provazník’s choir drama Sbormistr and Miro Remo’s documentary Better to Go Mad in the Wilderness vying for the top prize, while Vojtěch Strakatý’s On the Other Side of Summer leads the Proxima contingent.
The Special Screenings sidebar resumes episodic content with the world premiere of Serbian miniseries Absolute 100 and breaks new ground by projecting a bespoke big-screen cut of video-game sequel Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Announcing the collaboration, artistic director Karel Och said organisers “are honoured to be working together with world leaders in their field on this unique project”.
Beyond premieres, festival-goers can attend free concerts, including a 4 July show by Grammy winner La Roux outside Hotel Thermal, followed by fireworks over the Teplá River. A new visual identity built around an embrace motif is designed to underscore themes of human connection after a year marked by loss.
More than 200 films, talks and public discussions are slated across the town’s cinemas, underscoring Karlovy Vary’s role as Central Europe’s largest summer film gathering. Mucha says the expanded slate and commemorations together aim to “preserve the values and level of quality” that Bartoška established while signalling the festival’s readiness for the future.
