"Karel has been working with the festival for several years," Zaoralova said, and she had in particular been grooming him to take on what is arguably the most important festival programming position in Central Europe. She referred to his promotion "like secession to the throne."
"I've made a few minor changes, but I want to continue the festival as it is," Och said. The most obvious change is the elimination of the Open Eyes section, which consisted of films that had screened at Cannes. Instead, those films will be slotted into other appropriate festival sections.
Good news for festival visitors and CEE filmmakers alike is Och's statement, "There will be a stronger influence of films from Central and Eastern Europe. We'll have six debut films, and almost all are premieres." The main competition includes the world premiere of Martin Sulik's Gypsy representing Slovakia; the international premiere of Andrzej Baranski's Heritage from Poland; and the Danish/Croatian coproduction Room 304 directed by Birgitte Staermose. No Czech directors were selected for the main competition. For hard-core festival types, the Works in Progress presentations will include 25 films from Central and Eastern Europe.
Och, who made his festival reputation as programmer of the Documentary section, transforming it into one of the strongest parts of the festival, said, "I have a soft spot still for documentaries. It's not easy to select just 10 films from over 600 submissions." The documentary section includes the full length films At the Edge of Russia from Polish director Michal Marczak and Solar Eclipse by Czech director Martin Marecek (a world premiere); and two shorts from the region, the international premiere of I Walked Through Fire, You Were with Me by Lithuanian director Audrius Stonys and Declarations of Immortality from Poland's Marcin Koszalka.
Pressed on how he would influence programming in general, Och said, "I have my own tastes. A film should have a strong subject, but also a strong formula approach." He added, "I'm championing the classic cinema." That will be most evident in a new "Out of the Past" selection.
Indeed, half the questions from Czech journalists at the press conference were about the newly restored digital copy of the epic masterpiece Marketa Lazerova. Judging from their reaction, tickets to the festival's screening of the film could be the most in-demand. The 1967 black-and-white film from Czech director Frantisek Vlacil featuring Slovak actress Magda Vasaryova (who will attend the festival) in her film acting debut has been voted the greatest Czech film of all time, but the poor quality of existing prints meant is was rarely screened.
Opening and closing night films are Jane Eyre with Dame Judi Dench who will receive one of the festival's honorary awards, and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Other festival guests receiving honors include John Turturro and John Malkovich.
