Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2012

"The Last Step", Iran

In its 47th year, KVIFF remains the major festival for debut films from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as providing a fresh look at formerly controversial works from the region. This year the festival continues its project of screening Czech New Wave films censored during the Communist regime, including Miloš Forman's The Firemen's Ball (Hoří, má panenko, 1967) and Jaromil Jireš' The Joke (Žert, 1969). The former was banned in its native country for 20 years; it was Forman's final film before heading to the US.
   There were also several major retrospectives including a complete program of Michelangelo Antonioni's documentary works and a tribute to Turkish director Reha Erdem, who attended to discuss his six features. The most feted guest was the distinguished British actress referred to as "Helen Mirrenová" (her father is Russian, after all), who was on hand to present The Door, her collaboration with another Eastern European veteran, the Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó.
   From the official competition selection, the FIPRESCI prize was awarded to Iranian director Ali Mosaffa's The Last Step (Peleh akhar), a modernist nouveau roman which recalls early Alain Resnais in its constant, obsessive re-takes on memory. (Lesley Chow)

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic, June 29 - July 7, 2012, www.kviff.com.FIPRESCI Prize. Prize: The Last Step (Peleh akhar) by Ali Mosaffa (Iran, 2012, 88 mins, 35mm). Jury: Carmen Gray, Great Britain, president ("Sight and Sound"), Lesley Chow, Australia ("Brigh Lights Film Journal"), Lukasz Maciejewski, Poland ("Film"), Nil Kural, Turkey ("Milliyet Newspaper"), Vojtech Rynda, Czech Republic ("Týden"). Production: Road Movie Production. Sales: Iranian Independents, PO Box 15875-4769, Tehran, Iran, T +98 912 319 8693, F + 98 212 271 157, info@iranianindependents.com, www.iranianindependents.com.
Festival: www.kviff.com.

Reports

Look Back on Anger. Lesley Chow investigates the re-release of two banned films of the Czech New Wave. Do these works still seem subversive today?
The Almost Man. Carmen Gray discusses the Norwegian drama-comedy in the light of other international films dealing with men who refuse to grow-up and take adult responsibility.
Experiment in Narrative: The Last Step. Nil Kural reviews the Iranian FIPRESCI winner, and explains the ways in wich it experiments with narrative as did last year's A Separation.
Polish Cinema From the Perspective of... a Beaver. Lukasz Maciejewski takes a look at the development of the carrer of Polish director Jan Jakub Kolski through his new film To Kill a Beaver.

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