The new competition will no longer have any geographical focus. Instead, the festival said, it will screen “works by upcoming filmmakers and adventurous works by renowned auteurs.”
Karlovy Vary IFF's artistic director said that the popular East of the West section, “which was established in the 1990s with the aim to aid filmmakers from the former Eastern bloc to emerge out of the region’s politically indoctrinated isolation,” had “accomplished” its mission.
East of the West had been a competitive section since 2005, and the selection for the competition was considered a prestigious kudo.
The festival said it will retain its focus on projects originating from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, former Soviet Union countries, the Middle East and North Africa in its industry platform, Eastern Promises.
