23-06-2008

Karlovy Vary Films in Competition

    Official Selection - Competition

    The exceptional status of the Karlovy Vary IFF Official Selection - Competition always ensures that these films attract the largest audiences. Only films made after January 1, 2007 which haven´t been previously shown in the competition of another international film festival may be included; films selected are generally world, international or European premieres.
    As stipulated by the FIAPF festival statute, we present a complete list of competing films 14 days before the start of the festival



    List of films in competition:
    Film screenings:
    316 - 6.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    4E1 - 7.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Behind the Glass | Iza stakla
    Director: Zrinko Ogresta
    Croatia, 2008, 80 min, WP

    35-year-old architect Nikola Jeren is being pressured by his long-term mistress Ana and wife Maja to stop living a life of lies: he must choose between them. This intimate psychological drama asks whether something we're no longer used to expecting in life can decide for us - a tragic coincidence.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    616 - 9.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    7E1 - 10.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Captive | Plennyj
    Director: Alexey Uchitel
    Russia, Bulgaria, 2008, 80 min, IP

    This is a story about war in the Caucasus, where one day is equal to a whole life, where kindness may be a damnation, death a solution and beauty something that can truly terrify. The struggle to survive assumes its own dimensions which govern the rules of behaviour, defying all notions of morality.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    416 - 7.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    5E1 - 8.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Distant Tremors | Les tremblements lointains
    Director: Manuel Poutte
    Belgium, France, 2008, 100 min, WP

    Bandiougou dreams of a life in Europe. A sudden reversal of fortune, however, unleashes a series of events which the young Senegalese sees as a curse. The only way to ward off evil is to journey into the heart of Africa, a trip he undertakes with three French companions. A visually compelling psychological drama which presents a stirring image of a conflict between two cultures.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    514 - 8.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    6E2 - 9.7., 13:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Dr. Alemán | Dr. Alemán
    Director: Tom Schreiber
    Germany, 2008, 106 min, WP

    Marc, a young German doctor, arrives in the Colombian metropolis of Cali on an exchange visit and starts work in a local hospital. But he gets some tough experience in a deprived neighbourhood were he makes some new friends and also finds love. The inquisitive European longing for a bit of excitement, however, gets mixed up in the world of crime, which puts paid to the opinions, ideals and dreams he had entertained until now.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    216 - 5.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    3E1 - 6.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Early Bird Catches the Worm | Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca
    Director: Francesco Patierno
    Italy, 2008, 105 min, IP

    An acidic comedy based on the autobiography of a famous Italian radio host whose highly successful professional career was for years tarnished by the curse of the compulsive horse-race punter. Elio Germano (My Brother Is an Only Child) stars in this stirring tale about a highly unusual individual, set against a faithful backdrop of life during the 1980s.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    816 - 11.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    9E1 - 12.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Guitar | The Guitar
    Director: Amy Redford
    USA, 2007, 92 min, IP

    Debuting Amy Redford directs the excellent Saffron Burrows in a compelling drama about a young woman suddenly confronted with her own mortality. In the knowledge that she has less than two months to live, thirty-something Melody resolves to fulfil all her wildest dreams. Based on a real story, the screenplay was written by underground filmmaker Amos Poe.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    716 - 10.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    8E1 - 11.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Investigator | A nyomozó
    Director: Attila Gigor
    Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, 2008, 107 min, IP

    An unconventional story about a man who, in order to save his cancer-stricken mother, agrees to carry out the assassination of someone he's never met. As a pathologist he performs the murder quickly and almost painlessly. A letter he receives after the killing, however, reveals to him circumstances about which he knew nothing.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    614 - 9.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    7E2 - 10.7., 13:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Karamazovs | Karamazovi
    Director: Petr Zelenka
    Czech Republic, Poland, 2008, 100 min, IP

    A drama company from Prague arrives in Cracow to present a stage adaptation of Dostoevsky's famous novel at the city's alternative theatre festival; the production is to be staged in an unusual venue - the local steelworks. During rehearsals, the drama on stage spills over into real life, behind the scenes and front of house... In both his chosen theme and form, director Petr Zelenka has come up with an exceptional piece, oscillating between fiction and documentary and centred on the successful production presented by Prague's Dejvice Theatre.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    414 - 7.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    5E5 - 8.7., 22:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Night Owls | Děti noci
    Director: Michaela Pavlátová
    Czech Republic, 2008, 80 min, WP

    Ofka has given up on her dreams and now works in a 24-hour store owned by her brother-in-law. Her world is filled with similar lost souls who, like herself, only live at night. Will she be able to say goodbye to her artificially extended childhood? Will she find true love and step outside the confines of the neighbourhood where she was born? Oscar-nominated director Michaela Pavlátová offers an intimate story set in Prague's night-time Karlín district.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    814 - 11.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    9E2 - 12.7., 13:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Photograph | The Photograph
    Director: Nan T. Achnas
    Indonesia, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, 2007, 94 min, EP

    The young prostitute Sita finds an uninviting but cheap bedsit in the attic of a small photographic studio. Between two of life's drifters - the young woman and a withdrawn aging photographer - a fragile bond begins to develop within the elusive, mysterious world of photographic images. Do they have a chance together to escape the traumas of the past and the brutality of the present?

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    516 - 8.7., 20:00, Grand Hall
    6E1 - 9.7., 10:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Pretexts | Pretextos
    Director: Silvia Munt
    Spain, 2007, 90 min, IP

    A story about the discordant marriage of stage director Viena and Daniel, a doctor. A story about shared loneliness, imperfect love, and unfulfilled promises and desires. About the excuses we invent which only serve to thwart our happiness.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    714 - 10.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    8E2 - 11.7., 13:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    The Shaft | Dixia de Tiankong
    Director: Zhang Chi
    China, 2008, 98 min, WP

    This subtle celebration of life traces the lives of a family of three living in a mining town in western China. Instead of seeking a platform for flagrant social criticism, the film portrays Chinese reality without embellishment and elevates its study of the cycle of life to a universal, timeless level.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    213 - 5.7., 14:00, Grand Hall
    3E5 - 6.7., 22:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    Terribly Happy | Frygtelig Lykkelig
    Director: Henrik Ruben Genz
    Denmark, 2008, 105 min, WP

    After a case of professional misconduct, a young policeman from Copenhagen is reassigned to a small provincial town on the Jutland peninsula. He soon comes into conflict with the strange local inhabitants, whose world ends at the bottomless peat bogs located nearby. This grotesque, sombre drama with elements taken from the western and horror genres, is striking for its original stylisation and superb performances.

    Discussion My Program
    Film screenings:
    314 - 6.7., 17:00, Grand Hall
    4E2 - 7.7., 13:00, Espace Dorleans Cinema
    True Enough | La vérité ou presque
    Director: Sam Karmann
    France, 2007, 95 min, IP

    Anne is an attractive woman on the cusp of middle age trying in vain to divide her time fairly between her demanding job as a television presenter and her family. Her colleagues and friends have similar problems though. And what's more - in complicated relationships what is truth and what is falsehood after all? A tragicomic mosaic inspired by Stephen McCauley's bestselling novel embellished with brilliant performances by Karin Viard and André Dussollier.