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Kviff Eastern Promises, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s industry section and film market, announced its winners Tuesday. Ștefan Bîtu-Tudoran’s “Battalion Records” won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award worth 20,000 Euros, with the Eurimages Special Co-production Development Award for a Ukrainian project going to Yelizaveta Smith’s “In Vacuo.”

“Battalion Records” is Bîtu-Tudoran’s feature debut and follows a group of young artists who hijack Romania’s oldest music studio to stage a cultural revolution, taking the staff hostage to film a musical manifesto against Romania’s cultural decay. The jury called the film a “bold debut that confronts the decay of culture,” saying they were pleased to award the project “because sometimes, to make people listen, you must turn things upside down – and this absurdist heist comedy does so with rebellious energy.”

“In Vacuo” trails a young archaeologist who returns to her hometown to sell her missing father’s apartment,...

The actor presented the international premiere of Emma Westenberg’s ‘You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder’.

Blockbuster action films require an “endurance” because of their “slow” production process, according to Ewan McGregor, speaking at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival today.

McGregor is attending the festival to accept the honorary President’s Award, and present screenings of Emma Westenberg’s You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder, in which he stars alongside his daughter, the film’s co-writer and producer Clara McGregor.

Asked about moving between small independent features and big studio projects, McGregor said, “If you’re working on an action sequence,...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which takes place in an elegant spa resort in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, is set to get political during its 57th edition, but in a subtle way.

“I am not sure if you can even use the word ‘subtle’ when talking about politics, but it doesn’t always have to be in your face. You can be political by showing the existential struggles of an elderly lady who gets framed by some crooks,” says artistic director Karel Och, mentioning Stephan Komandarev’s “Blaga’s Lessons,” which will vie for the Crystal Globe.

While the main competition features many stories about people trying to return home or simply find their place in the world, he adds, the festival will also celebrate Iran with a separate section “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now.” “Before our consultant Lorenzo Esposito came up with this name,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Central Europe’s biggest cinema fest and party, has a reputation for offering up a healthy mix of regional and international films, as well as a mix of serious and fun fare, including some more outlandish and challenging movies.

The festival’s 57th edition, running June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, is no different.

Here is THR‘s look at some of the more outlandish and bizarre-sounding films that it will offer up to cineasts and industry insiders from around the globe.

Sisu, Midnight Screenings section

Described as “a survivalist action film stripped down to the bone” on the Karlovy Vary festival website, Sisu features a tired unit of Nazis at the end of the war picking a fight with a lone man, portrayed by Jorma Tommila, in Finland. “Part Western and part ironic Finnish answer” to action flicks starring the likes of Sylvester Stallone,...

The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar-nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members.

The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.

Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...

The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled its competition lineup for its 57th edition, set to run in the bucolic Czech spa town from June 30 to July 8.

Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.

Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.

Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...