S Viswanath

If it’s July then it must be Karlovy Vary International Film Festival time. Considered the middle of the year month July is the month when Karlovy Vary aka Carlsbad, world renowned as riverside spa town in the West Bohemia region of Czech Republic, thanks to numerous thermal springs that populate , comes alive for 10 days, when it hosts the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and considered the most prestigious such festival in Central and Eastern Europe.

In fact, it is said that, in many cultures and traditions, the seventh month of the year holds deep spiritual meaning, connecting to themes of transformation, creativity, and personal empowerment. July, and named after Julius Caesar, which signifies legacy of leadership, power, and transformation.

That it is in the fitness of things as soon after the Cannes Film Festival rings the curtain down in May, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, comes calling by following suit in July at the still quaint, serene and resplendent popular resort city-town which is also is the home to several colonnades with columned walkways.

Founded in 1946 as second film festival in Europe, the Karlovy Vary festival, now in its 59^th edition  and on from July 4-12, 2025, is not only one of the most important cultural events in Central Europe, but is renowned for providing an inimitable audience experience maintaining  its reputation as an informal gathering for fans of cinema.

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which also counts itself amongst oldest of A-list film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, San Sebastian, Montreal, Shanghai, and Tokyo showcases about 200 films from all over the world, many exclusively premiering at the festival.

The preeminent spotlight of the festival being its marquee sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, reserved exclusively for feature-length films that have not been shown at any other festival in international competition, and the Proxima section, international competition complementing the Crystal Globe Competition that fetes the “contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries shown exclusively as world or international premieres.”

Furthermore, every year, the festival also presents the prestigious Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema to leading personality of world cinema, in recognition of actors and filmmakers who have rendered inspiring work in the field of international cinema.

One other unique aspect of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival which covets the itinerant cinephile who visits it for the sheer joy of experiencing creative cinemas is  the festival’s  concept of a new and unique festival trailers.

These trailers comprising of cinematic micro-stories which features the laureates of festival’s main awards – the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema and the Festival President’s Award. These trailers being exclusively commissioned and made by the leading internationally-respected advertising directors Ivan Zachariáš and Martin Krejčí, billed as the among the top filmmakers in commercial filmmaking. Each of these best in the class trailers are to be seen and experienced to be believed.

The audiences being simply bowled over and the auditorium resounding in thunderous claps in ecstatic appreciation over the trailers that simply are out of the extraordinary and provide the perfect foretaste of the films that seeks to engage and enrich the assembled audiences in the respective auditoria.

Thus said, and appreciated, its time to get down to business proper and provide readers a prelude to what to expect at the premier film festival during its 10 day run while also taking time off to enjoy its serene sights, luxuriate in the hotels’ spas, and simply find bliss in the quietude of the place that celebrates cinema in true style.

The Proxima palette

This year, the Proxima Competitiona space dedicated to “new voices from across the vast cinematic spectrum,” which “showcases works of upcoming filmmakers and adventurous works by renowned auteurs,”and befittingly complements the festival much coveted Crystal Globe Competition“celebrating contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries.”The winners in the Proxima Competition presented with US$15,000 for Proxima Grand Prixand US$10,000 for Proxima Special Jury Prize.

The Proxima Competitionthis time is presenting a curated collection of 13 choicest films among whom 12 are world premieres and one international premiere. As the festival programmers describe the ensemble collection as wherein one “can look forward to an intellectually stimulating journey through space and time,a trip to Istanbul for a hair transplant,a perspective look at the life of millennials and an intense 222-minute autobiography about a Syrian refugee camp in Berlin, among the assorted assemblage of films.

The films, in contention, in the section, in alphabetical order being La anatomía de los caballos (The Anatomy of the Horses / Anatomie koní) the 106 min Spanish fare from director Daniel Vidal Toche. Then you have Avant / Après / Before / After / Před a po the 80 min Belgian flick from filmmaker Manoël Dupont. Director Maria Rigel presents her 92 min Armenian feature Ayspes asatc qamin / Thus Spoke the Wind / Tak pravil vítr, while Mahde Hasan from Bangladesh showcasese his 99 min Balur Nogorite / Sand City / Písečnémesto.

Thereafter, you have Forenses / Forensics / Mapy zmizelých a 91 min feature from Colombia’s Federico Atehortúa Arteaga with Brazil’s Davi Preto representing his country with 86 min film Futuro / Future / Budoucí budoucnost. The Croatian director Nikola Lezaic’s 114 min Kako je ovde tako zeleno? / How Come It’s All Green Out Here? / Co všechna ta zeleň? , Czech Republic very own Vojtech Strakaty’s 85 min Na druhé straně léta / The Other Side of Summer / Na druhé straně léta, Slovak Republic’s Paula Durinova’s 69 min documentary Neplatené voľno / Action Item / Neplacené volno, German director Steffen Goldkamp representing with his 85 min Regen fiel auf nichts Neues / Rain Fell On the Nothing New / Nic nového pod deštěm.

 Among films from other nations include Lithuania’s Renovacija / Renovation / Renovace a 90 min feature by Gabriele Urbonaite, Syria’s TrepaNation, the monumental mega 222 min movie by Ammar al-Beik, and last, but not the least, Vgainoun mesa ap ti Margo / They Come Out of Margo / Vzešli skrze Margo the 91 min Grecian experimental horror flick by Alexandros Voulgaris.

The piece de resistance and pivotal segment of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Crystal Globe Competition, a non- specialised section open to feature-length fiction and documentary films, sees a galaxy of awards presented to the winners. From Grand Prix – Crystal Globe (with a prize money of US$25,000) to Special Jury Prize (US$15,000), the competition section also sees Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor being presented on an ex-aequo basis, besides the Jury vested with the powers to award up to two Special Mentions.

The 59^th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, this times, features a compendium of 11 chosen films in the Crystal Globe Competition, which will vie for the awards. Drawn from as far as Afghanistan, Colorado, Lisbon, to the thick of strife action in Ukraine, the multifarious range of thematic concerns these films bring to the viewers’ table include the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, to forbidden love and fixing of broken family ties, among the many providing for an eclectic range of audience experiences from contemporary cinemas of the world.

Crystal Globe gazing

The films featuring the section, in the alphabetical order are Cinema Jazireh, the 124 min feature from Turkey’s Gozde Kural, (Wild) Diviaby Poland’s Dmytro Hreshko, 79 min fare, with France’s Nathan Ambrosioni presenting the 111 min Les Enfants vont bien / Out of Love / Z lásky. Then you have Jimmy Jaguarthe 112 min Hungarian feature by Bence Fliegauf, Director Pere Vila Barcelo’s magnum opus 180 min Spanish film When a River Becomes the Sea, Czech Republic very own Miro Remo’s 77 min Better Go Mad In The Wild, Max Walker-Silverman’s 95 min American flick Rebuilding / From The Ground Up, Another of Czech Republic director Ondrej Provaznik’s 104 min Choirmaster / Broken Voices, the 108 min Norwegian film Don’t Call Me Mamaby Nina Knag, the 111 min Lithuanian fare Svečias / The Visitor by Vytautas Katkus and finally, A Vida Luminosa / The Luminous Life / Průzračnýživot the 99 min feature by Joao Rosas from Portugal.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS STRINGLET

In the Special Screenings tableau of you have a string of nonet films featured. These are All That’s Left of You / Illi baqi minnak from Palestine, Karavan / Caravan from Czech Republic, The Czech Film Project also from Czech Republic, Dragonfly from the United Kingdom, Duchon from Slovak Republic, as also Promise, I’ll Be Fine&Above is the sky, I am in the valleyFrance’sA Second Life, Summer School, 2001 from Czech Republic and Iran’s Tehran Another View.

The Crystal Globe Competition Jury comprises Nicolás Celis, Mexican producer, Babak Jalali filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, Jessica Kiang film critic, essayist and programmer, Jiří MádlCzech Republic’s most popular actors, and Tuva Novotnymost prominent and successful actresses in the Nordics today. The Proxima Jury has Yulia Evina BharaIndonesian producer, Noaz DesheRomanian filmmaker living in Mexico, Nelson Carlos De Los Santos AriasDominican filmmaker, Jakub FelcmanCzech screenwriter, festival organiser, film journalist, and Marissa Frobesagent in Media Finance department at leading entertainment and sports agency CAA.

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.