As suits the main festival in Central Europe, the selections are strong on titles from former socialist bloc countries. Few competition features come from outside Europe.
Main competition titles have not screened in competition outside their home countries, but several that have already caught the attention of buyers. Nordisk launched Bard Breien's black comedy The Art of Negative Thinking at Cannes. Michael James Rowland's Lucky Miles opened the Adelaide Film Festival and screened at the Cannes market. Jake Paltrow's The Good Night attracted considerable attention from buyers at Sundance. Min Boung-hun's Pruning The Grapevine screened at the EFM in Berlin.
National festivals have already praised some competition titles. Zoltan Kamondi's Dolina picked up an award for Best Production Design at Hungarian Film Week in February. Krzysztof and Joanna Kos-Krauze's Saviour's Square won the grand prize and numerous other awards at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia last September.
Other films have proven hits with viewers at home. Baltasar Kormakur's Jar City has been seen by more than 60,000 Icelanders - one in five - since its release last autumn. Jan Sverak's Empties likewise set new box-office records in the Czech Republic.
Stand-out titles among in the East of the West competition include The Trap, which won the Grand Prix at the Sofia International Film Festival earlier this year, and Facing Up, which earned Marta Malikowska an award in Gdynia for her debut performance.
While Karlovy Vary has proven its appeal to European film fans and the Czech local industry, international industry attendees also have access to presentations of new projects from Central and Eastern Europe. East of the West-Works in Progress will present more than 20 films from the Bulgaria, Croatia Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Latvia.
Renee Zellweger will attend the festival to present Miss Potter and Eli Roth will be on hand with Hostel II. Actress Ellen Page (Hard Candy) and directors George Hickenlooper and Monte Hellman are among the other guests expected.
Main competition, 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Art of Negative Thinking (Norway, dir. Bard Breien)
Conversation With My Gardener (France, dir. Jean Becker)
Dolina (Hungary-Romania, dir. Zoltan Kamondi)
Empties (Czech Republic-UK, dir. Jan Sverak)
The Good Night (US-UK, dir. Jake Paltrow)
Jar City (Iceland-Germany, dir. Baltasar Kormakur)
Karger (Germany, dir. Elke Hauck)
Lucky Miles (Australia, dir. Michael James Rowland)
Pruning The Grapevine (South Korea, dir. Min Boung-hun)
Pudor (Spain, dirs. David Ulloa, Tristán Ulloa)
Saturno contro (Italy, France, Turkey, dir. Ferzan Ozpetek)
Savior's Square (Poland, dirs. Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze)
Simple Things (Russia, dir. Alexei Popogrebsky)
When She Jumped (Argentina, dir. Sabrina Farji)
East of the West competition
Armin (Croatia-Germany-Bosnia and Herzegovina, dir. Ognjen Svilicic)
California Dreamin' (Endless) (Romania, dir. Cristian Nemescu)
The Class (Estonia, dir. Ilmar Raag)
The Dark Deer (Latvia-Austria, dir. Viesturs Kairiss)
Facing The Enemy (Slovakia, dir. Patrik Lancaric)
Facing Up (Poland, dir. Marek Stacharski)
Free Floating (Russia, dir. Boris Khlebnikov)
Happy New Life (Hungary, dir. Arpad Bogdan)
Hope (Poland-Germany, dir. Stanislaw Mucha)
Horror Which Is Always With You (Russia, dir. Arkadiy Yakhnis)
Kek (Ballade Of The Forgotten Years) (Kazakhstan, dir. Damir Manabai)
Rules Of Lies (Czech Republic, dir. Robert Sedlacek)
Stop Revolution (Ukraine, dir. Ivan Kravchyshyn)
The Trap (Serbia-Germany-Hungary, dir. Srdan Golubovic)
Upside Down (Macedonia-Croatia-Serbia, dir. Igor Ivanov)
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