The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced the first titles in the competition line-upfor its 44th edition.

French producer Claudie Ossard will chair the jury, which will also include Uruguayan-born director Rodrigo Pla, Russian director Sergey Dortsevoy, Iranian filmmaker Niki Karimi, Norwegian-Swedish actress Maria Bonnevie, Czech filmmaker Ivan Zacharias and Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan.

Karlovy Vary artistic director Eva Zaoralova today (April 28) revealed five titles in the festival’s main competition:

  • Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells, dir: Jeon Soo-il (Korea)
  • I Am Not Your Friend , dir: Gyorgy Palfi (Hungary)
  • Soul at Peace, dir: Vladimir Balko (Slovakia)
  • Twenty, dir: Abdolreza Kahani (Iran)
  • Will Not Stop There , dir: Vinko Bresan (Croatia).

The festival also announced four films in its East of the West competition of films from Central and Eastern Europe:

  • El Paso,dir: Zdenek Tyc (Czech Republic)
  • The 40th Door, dir: Elcin Musaoglu (Azebaijan)
  • Paper Soldier, dir: Alexei German Jr. (Russia)
  • Scratch, dir: Michal Rosa (Poland)

Out of competition, Karlovy Vary will see the world premiere of A Walk Worthwhile from director Milos Forman. The film is an adaptation of a Czech jazz opera which Forman himself directed at Prague’s National Theatre in 2007. Forman later adapted the play for the screen, with the intent of distributing it only on DVD. Falcon will release the film to Czech cinemas in July.

The festival will present tributes to Jan Svankmajer, Patrice Chereau, and Alan Rudolph, and will screen three films from last year’s Venice Film Festival: Darren Aronofsky’s Golden Lion-winner The Wrestler, Claire Denis’ 35 Shots Of Rum and Jooh-han Yeo’s Sell Out!

The 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival takes place July 3–11.

Topics