48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

The Czech Republic’s annual summer showcase of world cinema, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the 48th edition of which ran from 28 June to 7 July. In the main competition were films from Polish directors Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, Israeli director Yossi Madmony, Hungary’s Janos Szász, Czech Jan Hrebejk and Vinko Bresan from Croatia. Among the 14 titles were six world premieres and seven international premieres.

Besides the official Competition there were sections devoted to East of the West with 16 titles by young directors including six debuts, and a strong documentary line-up. The festival, hosted in a Bohemian spa town two hours’ drive from Prague, also offered plenty of star power, headed by John Travolta who attended a screening of Mark Steven Johnson’s Killing Season. The two-time Oscar nominee, famed for his performances in Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Pulp Fiction, The Taking Of Pelham 1,2,3 and a raft of other international box office hits, received the festival’s prestigious Crystal Globe lifetime achievement award.

The other notable recipient of the award this year was veteran director Oliver Stone who presented his latest project The Untold History of the United States. Considered one of Europe’s most relaxed festivals where stars and political luminaries — such as the late Czech president Vaclav Havel who was a frequent visitor before his death in 2011 — mingle with guests, the event has a reputation for spotting emerging new talents from Eastern Europe and Asia as well as for screening intelligent and popular retrospectives. A legion of students and film fans camp out under the stars to catch the screenings in assorted venues. (György Báron, Richard Mowe)

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: www.kviff.com