(K. Brent Tomer),
THOUGH Cannes, Venice and Berlin may still get top billing among European cinephiles, there is no more beautiful setting for a film festival than the pristine Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary, where the 51st incarnation of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) wrapped on July 9th.
Peter the Great, Ataturk, Goethe, Beethoven and others used to take respite amid the healing waters of this resort, founded in 1370 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. In 2016, names less historically consequential—but perhaps as appealing to film-makers—such as Charlie Kaufman, a screenwriter, Willem Dafoe, an American actor and Jean Reno, a French actor, came to the town to collect lifetime achievement awards. Yet the town and its film festival serve an important role in global cinema: the KVIFF is a launching pad for Central and Eastern European films to reach the rest of the world. Considering the past two foreign language Oscar winners have come from the region (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” and Poland’s “Ida”), this is no small thing.
More than 1,000 industry buyers, sellers and distributors attended this…Continue reading
via K. Brent Tomer CFTC No Oscar fodder at this year’s Karlovy Vary film festival
