Introduction of the festival by its director Krystof Mucha

This year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is being held while respecting all the hygienic and anti-Covid regulations in effect during the festival. The festival’s motto this year is: To the cinema with just a wristband. All admission to cinemas and festival venues will require a valid covid-safe wristband confirming infection-free status. Besides serving to ensure health and safety, the wristband is also a friendly accessory. With your wristband, you are sure to be IN.

WE BELIEVE IN CINEMA’S GREAT COMEBACK – SAYS KVIFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KRYŠTOF MUCHA

The Karlovy Vary festival is one of the first large film festivals to be held after the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. In terms of organizing, what steps have you taken for the festival to be safe?

“The Karlovy Vary festival is known for being open to its audiences, and so in organizing this year’s 55th edition of KVIFF we have worked hard to ensure that it could take place with maximum audience involvement while keeping it safe for all participants. Our first decision was to move its date until the final week in August. In view of the ongoing vaccination efforts in the Czech Republic and the world, this decision allowed us to hold the festival in a format that most closely resembles its usual course, meaning standard cinema capacity and with the involvement of filmmakers from the Czech Republic and abroad.”

What specific measures has the festival taken?

“The motto of this year’s festival is: To the cinema with just a wristband. All visitors and guests must prove their infection-free status as defined by the applicable regulations by visiting one of our Covid Control Teams, which will be stationed at festival venues and will also be active as mobile teams. Once they have done this, they receive a Covid-safe wristband enabling entry to cinemas and other festival venues. The entire system is designed to be user-friendly for festivalgoers. It is accompanied by an information campaign in the media and on social networks so that people will not have any trouble figuring out the system while also ensuring that they will not be exposed to risk of infection. Our system was designed in collaboration with domestic experts and healthcare organizations, and we believe that it has been set up in a way that will avoid as many risks as possible.”

How much interest has there been among audiences and filmmakers to attend the festival?

“Recent experience has shown that shared cinematic experiences are still irreplaceable and that unlike the internet they offer the forcefulness of a physical experience in one place and time. We have seen great interest on the part of filmmakers, who now have one of the first opportunities to publicly screen their works and receive the first unmediated audience reactions, which is immensely important for them. There is no substitute for such feedback. For these reasons, they have expressed great interest in coming to Karlovy Vary and showing their films, assuming that the rules in their countries allow it. Similarly, the response of our viewers, with whom we try to communicate over the long term, has shown that they are looking forward to the Karlovy Vary festival and its program. We believe that this year’s edition will be an important transitional moment and in a certain sense a return to regular life, of which culture is an integral part.”

The details of all anti-Covid measures are presented on the festival´s official website: https://www.kviff.com/en/covid.

KVIFF.TV AT THE 55TH FESTIVAL

Over the course of the 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, our new online film platform will offer audiences news reports from the festival, interviews with filmmakers and other interesting individuals, practical information for visitors, program tips, and original shows produced exclusively for KVIFF.TV. Every day from 8am to midnight for the entire duration of the festival, KVIFF.TV will offer a series of reportages presenting the latest news about films, screenings, guests, and the festival’s accompanying program. Audiences can also look forward to the series Jingle Story, in which we present the stories behind selected KVIFF trailers and their creators. Another series, KVIFF Personas, introduces important personalities associated with the festival, and World Festivals lets you take a behind-the-scenes look at various renowned international film festivals. KVIFF Guide, hosted by Janek Rubeš and Honza Mikulka, gives visitors an overview of the festival, including the program of films and accompanying events, introduces them to the festival’s Covid-19 measures, and presents various local restaurants and cafés. Other shows include analyses of films by filmmakers and critics, an introduction to the festival program by the program planners, and many interesting interviews with filmmakers and other guests, hosted by Čestmír Strakatý and Saša Michailidis, among others.

KVIFF.TV will also present a live broadcast of the festival’s opening ceremony. Elsewhere on KVIFF.TV, you will find selected films from past festivals, free for viewing. The complete contents of our online platform are available online at www.kviff.tv and via the KVIFF.TV app, available for iOS and Android. The app also features a program of screenings and accompanying events.

TWO ADDED SCREENINGS – BENEDETTA AND RAPSTORY

Benedetta Horizons Paul Verhoeven, 2020 France, Netherlands Friday August 27, 2021 at 11pm, Grand Hall Even as a young girl, Benedetta felt that she was closer to God than other people. Several years later, her father sends her to a monastery – although more than spiritual fulfilment he wants to give her a better life. The young novice learns the strict rules of the religious order but quickly realizes that rules can do more than bind a person: they can also serve them, and behind the walls of the monastery, one can feel passion for more than just Jesus… The enchanting Virginie Efira, the provocative Daphne Patakia, and the charismatic Charlotte Rampling star in Verhoven’s latest film, whose dark humor, miracles, and stimulating (in more ways than one) story made it an audience hit at this year’s festival in Cannes. RapStory Special Screenings Šimon Šafránek, 2021 Czech Republic Thursday, August 26, 2021 at 7pm, Congress Hall Rap. A captivating rhythm and a direct message. Humor or aggression; a reflection of egoism in a highly egoistic era. An infectious virus. This ain’t no kiddie show, it’s a revolutionary culture that did not fully arrive in our country until the Velvet Revolution. Initially ridiculed, Czech rap has become a new form of popular music despite the fact that it was long ignored by radio and television. In their ten-episode online series, director Šimon Šafránek and editor Šimon Hájek (King Skate, Meky) present gripping stories of rappers, ranging from pioneering figures such as Michael Viktořík and Orion all the way to contemporary phenomena such as Yzomandias and Viktor Sheen. In rap, they all found freedom in the face of social expectations and conventions. Suitable for viewers aged 15 years and over.