The 57th KVIFF festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, or KVIFF, hosts about 200 films from around the world and is the oldest film festival in Central Europe. Located in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, the film festival is held annually in July and is the most prestigious festival in Central and Eastern Europe. The festival is open to film professionals and the public, showing films such as "Back to the Future" or "Everything Everywhere All At Once." The main program of the festival is the feature film competition. Only films that have not been shown at any other competition at any other international festival can enter.
Actress Eli Skorcheva receiving the Best Actress award for her role in “Blaga’s Lessons”
The KVIFF is divided into two sections: the creative pool and the feature pool. The creative pool focuses on work of any genre or format, while the feature pool focuses on original feature films with deadlines and budget constraints. The highest award given is the Grand Prix, which, if won, provides the winner with the Crystal Globe for best feature film and $25,000. Other awards, such as Best Director, Actor, or Actress, are also given. In 2022, the Iranian/Canadian co-production "Summer of Hope" won the Grand Prix in the Crystal Globe Competition.
Founded in 1946 after the Second World War, the Karlovy Vary IFF spent it’s first few years screening films in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary. The festival moved exclusively to Karlovy Vary in 1950, after which it almost was discontinued due to the ongoing concerns of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. After the communist takeover in 1948, the Czechoslovak government placed censorship and rules regarding what artists could publish at the time. During the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the film festival was pushed aside as it was the least of anyone's concerns. KVIFF was saved in 1990 thanks to the release of Czechoslovak films that had been sealed away for years and publicity by famous guest stars like Robert De Niro.
Film Director Stephan Komandarev
KVIFF has just finished celebrating its 57th festival in July of 2023 with this year's film "Blaga's Lessons," Directed by Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev won the Grand Prix and claimed the Crystal Globe award. Actress Eli Skorcheva, who played the main lead, received the "Best Actress" award. KVIFF website provides a synopsis of the winning film shown below.
"Blaga is a seventy-year-old recently widowed former teacher and a woman of firm morals. When telephone scammers con her out of the money that she had saved for her husband's grave, her moral compass slowly begins to lose its bearings…"
Written By Pressley Reeve
KVIFF. (n.d.). https://www.kviff.com/en/homepage
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, July 13). Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlovy_Vary_International_Film_Festival
Blaga’s Lessons. KVIFF. (1970, January 1). https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/63/39356-blagas-lessons
The Crystal Globe goes to Blaga’s lessons at the 57th KVIFF. Birth won the Proxima Competition. KVIFF. (n.d.-b). https://www.kviff.com/en/news/4600-the-crystal-globe-goes-to-blagas-lessons-at-the-57th-kviff-birth-won-the-proxima-competition
Film platform of the Karlovy Vary film festival. KVIFF.TV • Watch outstanding films online. (n.d.). https://kviff.tv/en