On Friday evening the 58th International Film Festival, the only A-category international film event in Eastern Europe, opened with grandeur in the town of Karlovy Vary in Western Czechia.
The festival, which runs until 6 July and concludes with a formal awards ceremony, will screen nearly two hundred films in various sections this year. Viggo Mortensen, the renowned American actor and director, received the Jiří Bartoška Festival President’s Award at the opening gala. Following the award ceremony attendees watched the film Falling, for which Viggo Mortensen wrote the screenplay, directed, and played the lead role.
The Danish-born American actor is best known for his portrayal of Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films. Viggo Mortensen, who is also a painter and the author of several poetry collections, has previously been nominated for both Oscar and Golden Globe awards. In 2016, the American film Captain Fantastic, in which Viggo Mortensen played a leading role, won the Audience Award at Karlovy Vary.
At next Saturday’s gala Clive Owen, the Golden Globe-winning British actor, will also receive the Jiří Bartoška Award. Additionally, this honour will be bestowed upon German actor Daniel Brühl, who gained popularity for his role in Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin!. Among the Czechs, actor Ivan Trojan will be honoured by the festival’s organizing committee.
This year twelve films are competing in the competition category. Although no Hungarian films have been selected for the competition, there will still be Hungarian connections. According to the festival programme, Slovak–Czech co-production Emma and the Death’s-Head Hawkmoth directed by Bratislava-based Iveta Grófová, will compete for the main prize.
One of the lead roles is played by Hungarian actress Alexandra Borbély, who was born in Nyitra (Nitra)
and grew up in the nearby town of Nagycétény (Veľké Cetín), Slovakia.
The festival’s main prize is the Crystal Globe, accompanied by a monetary award of USD 15,000 (HUF 5.5 million). Awards will also be given for best female and male performances and best directing, among others. The jury chair for the competition films will be Oscar-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush, who received a lifetime achievement Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary two years ago. According to press reports, jury members will include American actress Patricia Clarkson and Hungarian director Gábor Reisz.
This year, the symbol and main prize of the Karlovy Vary Festival have been redesigned: the Crystal Globe has been made smaller than in previous years. The glass statue, depicting a young woman with her head tilted back and holding a globe, has had its weight and size reduced, as several actors have found it difficult to handle the award during the presentation.
Given that it is the centenary of the death of Franz Kafka, the world-renowned Prague-born German writer, the festival will feature a special section screening films based on his novels.
As in previous years, the vast majority of tickets have sold out in advance.
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