The Karlovy Vary festival will screen films at movie theaters across Czechia

The annual Karlovy Vary International Film festival has been cancelled and rescheduled to 2021 due to coronavirus. The festival will take place July 2-10, 2021 but will still offer a taste of the festival this summer at almost one hundred theaters across the Czech Republic. Some 16 of the scheduled films will be coming to 96 cinemas in 80 Czech cities and towns in between July 3-11, 2020, the same dates that the original festival had been scheduled.

The Karlovy Vary IFF programmers’ exclusive selection for KVIFF at Your Cinema includes powerful movies that received high praise at film festivals held from last autumn to this year’s Berlinale. Movie screens at nearly one hundred Czech theaters will host the European premieres of three acclaimed titles: Zeina Durra’s engaging, atmospheric drama Luxor; Fernanda Valadez’ compelling feature debut Identifying Features; and The Mole Agent, Maite Alberdi’s original cross between spy comedy and observational documentary.

Each of these movies will have only one exclusive screening, which will take place at all participating theaters at the same time. The screenings are being planned according to the spirit of the actual festival and will be accompanied by on-site introductions to the films by the KVIFF organizators.

In Prague, there are 12 cinemas and two multiplex chains participating: Světozor, Lucerna, Aero, Oko, Atlas, Evald, Kino Pilotů, Modřanský Biograf, Mat, Přítomnost, Dlabačov, the Municpal Library, Premiere Cinemas and Cinestar. Tickets and more information about language and subtitles are available at the website of each cinema.

“Since, given the situation, moviegoers can’t come to Karlovy Vary this year, we decided to bring at least part of the festival to them. It’s our way of thanking the visitors, guests, and film enthusiasts who create the fantastic festival atmosphere in Vary every year. We are thrilled by our viewers’ immense interest, and it’s also huge that nearly 100 theaters have signed on for KVIFF at Your Cinema. I believe that together we will succeed in offering audiences not only great films but even a bit of the traditional festival atmosphere,” says KVIFF president Jiří Bartoška.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and the most prestigious film festival in Central and Eastern Europe. It is one of the oldest A-list film festivals (i.e., non-specialized festivals with a competition for feature-length fiction films), a category it shares with the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, San Sebastian, Moscow, Montreal, Shanghai, and Tokyo.

For more information and a list of the films that will be streamed, go to  the KVIFF website.

Source: expats.cz, KVIFF