Karlovy Vary Film Festival Expands KVIFF Industry Days, Its Program for Film Professionals

The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival has expanded its program for film professionals, KVIFF Industry Days, which runs July 5-8 at Kaiserbad, an elegant venue in the Czech spa town.

KVIFF Promises Broadens Its International Scope
The platform formerly known as KVIFF Eastern Promises, which introduces projects to producers, distributors, festivals and sales agents, has been renamed KVIFF Promises. This reflects the decision to open it up to projects from across the world, not just Central and Eastern Europe.

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The platform will continue to showcase emerging talent through its collaboration with the Midpoint Institute, presenting projects from the Feature Launch program. Established mid-career directors from Central Europe will be highlighted in the KVIFF Central Stage showcase, with Switzerland joining the lineup of countries presented last year.

First Edition of Book-to-Screen at KVIFF
The festival will host the first edition of Book-to-Screen at KVIFF, a joint project with Frankfurter Buchmesse, Svět knihy (Book World) and Moravian Library in Brno, and with the support of the PPF Foundation. It will present to producers up to 10 book titles suitable for film or series adaptation coming from the region of Central and Eastern Europe. Its long-term goal is to create a market for film rights to adaptations of literary works from the region, thereby strengthening cooperation between the film and book industries.

In addition to book presentations, the program will also include a panel discussion focused on film adaptations and a networking meeting for all participants.

Industry Program: From True Crime Ethics to Alternative Distribution
KVIFF Industry Days will once again feature a series of presentations, panel discussions, and workshops with leading experts in the fields of audiovisual media, cinematography, and television series production. The program will focus on topics such as high-quality production values, the ethics of true crime stories, alternative film distribution, as well as innovative approaches to storytelling and private equity financing of projects.

In collaboration with the Czech Association of Audiovisual Producers and the State Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Film Forum will offer a discussion platform, where Czech producers and filmmakers review the past year and name challenges they are facing in the current film ecosystem. The program will also include a presentation of currently available AI tools.

This year, KVIFF will also host, for the first time, a meeting of the board of the European Film Academy, which annually awards the European Film Awards.

International Casting Directors Association at KVIFF
In collaboration with the Intl. Casting Directors Association, part of the program will focus on casting issues in Central and Eastern Europe.

On July 9, ICDA will present its annual Semiramis Award for Excellence in Casting. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in casting and honors the creative contribution casting directors make to the success of film and television.

Alongside the award presentation, ICDA will host a series of panels and masterclasses exploring the craft and impact of casting in contemporary filmmaking, with several dozen international casting directors in attendance.

Global Media Makers Residency Comes to Karlovy Vary
In collaboration with the U.S. embassies in Bratislava and Prague, and Film Independent, the Los-Angeles based non-profit organization supporting independent filmmakers, KVIFF Industry Days will host the U.S. Department of State’s Global Media Makers Residency, a focused program for 14-20 producers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Designed as an intensive, hands-on residency, the program will explore new approaches to private financing and draw inspiration from the U.S. film industry.

Through curated sessions, case studies and direct exchange with international experts, participants will gain practical insight into financing structures, packaging strategies and international collaboration.

Oneplay Joins as Partner of Screen Focus Sessions
Building on the introduction of its series-focused strand last year, the festival continues to expand its program to reflect the growing importance of broadcaster and streaming-driven content in Central Europe. The Screen Focus strand welcomes a new key partner, Oneplay, which will support a range of panels, masterclasses and presentations tailored to today’s audiovisual professionals.

Producers, commissioners, and talent will have the opportunity to “connect around topics such as international co-production, regional storytelling, export potential and premium production values,” the festival said.

KVIFF Talents Program Presents New Projects
The KVIFF Talents program will once again support six audiovisual works in the concept stage. The selected participants will receive development funding, mentoring from industry experts, the opportunity to present their projects at a special event, facilities for producing proof-of-concept videos, stays at film festivals, and residency programs in Karlovy Vary.

In the Feature Pool, dedicated to feature-length films, three projects will be presented.

“Exposed,” the feature fiction debut by director Klára Tasovská, produced by Lukáš Kokeš, is set against the backdrop of the semi-legal queer milieu of socialist Czechoslovakia. The thriller, unfolding over 24 hours in Prague during the 1980s era of “Normalization,” tells — through the story of a young female photographer — a universal story of personal dilemma and the courage to stand up for one’s own version of reality.

The intimate drama “Nera” is the feature fiction debut of director Ivana Vogrinc Vidali and screenwriter Darja Miková. The story follows Tereza, a recent high school graduate whose life is upended by a relentless diagnosis that gradually robs her of her sight. She is rescued from despair by Nera, a guide dog in whom she finds a kindred spirit, but she soon encounters the limits of a system that has trained Nera for absolute obedience and the suppression of instinct.

The project “Until We Leave,” the debut of screenwriter Lucia Čižinská and produced by Tereza Wiński, tells the story of four women in their thirties who travel to France to visit a close friend with a terminal illness. Their shared trip gradually turns into a confrontation with their own lives, relationships and visions of the future. This intimate drama blends elements of tragicomedy and an observational road movie.

In the Creative Pool, dedicated to projects of any audiovisual format, two fiction series and one animated film will be presented this year.

The series “Burning Witches,” written by Martina Babišová and Věra Starečková and produced by Dagmar Sedláčková, is set in the 17th century on the Bohemian-Polish borderlands and follows noblewoman Katuše as she attempts to save her sister from being burned at the stake while also striving to emancipate those around her.

“The Inhalatorium,” the feature-length animated debut by director and animator Bára Anna Stejskalová, follows a 13-year-old girl who arrives at a mountain sanatorium to treat her asthma. When her friend disappears and the staff refuse to speak of him, she sets out with others to trace his steps.

The final project of this year’s KVIFF Talents is the series “K-Dream” by director Adam Sedlák and producers Linda Krejčí and Monika Soukup, which tells the story of NIKŎ, a European obsessed with K-pop. After failing to launch his career as a K-pop star, he returns to Europe to found the first K-pop idol academy in Berlin. The lead role will be played by Adam Mišík, who is also involved in the project as a co-screenwriter.