Iran-set coming-of-age story “Summer With Hope” won the top prize at the 56th Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, winning over the Crystal Globe jury with its story of youthful competitive swimmer Omid as he struggles to train for a risky ocean competition.
The film, directed and written by Iranian-Canadian Sadaf Foroughi, is her sophomore feature, following up on 2017 teen drama “Ava.” The Karlovy Vary prize comes with $25,000.
The brisk yet redolent Spanish study of friends “You Have to Come and See It,” directed by Jonás Trueba, won the special jury prize and $15,000 for its ironic, philosophical portrayal of a country outing by Madrid city folk.
Czech filmmaker Beata Parkanová won the director prize for “The Word,” a Czech/Slovak/Polish co-production and her original story of a small-town notary – Martin Finger, who also took the actor prize – and his wife, Gabriela Mikulková, who stand up to political pressure under the repressive pre-1989 regime, at great personal cost.
Georgians Taki Mumladze and Mariam Khundadze shared best actress honors for their roles as restless young women coping with claustrophobia and sexual frustration in Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze’s German/Georgian convention-breaking drama “A Room of My Own.
The nine-day festival, arguably Central Europe’s most spectacular, wrapped Saturday night at the Grand Hall of the storied brutalist pile known as the Hotel Thermal, capping a week of 170 films screened in mostly packed halls and appearances by actors Geoffrey Rush and Benicio Del Toro, who wowed crowds at an event that attracted 10,000-plus visitors.
The fest signed off with both Rush and Del Toro on stage, the former honored with a contribution to global cinema Crystal Globe while the latter was handed the prize of fest president Jiří Bartoška. Czech comic actor Bolek Polivka was honored with a lifetime achievement award.
The Právo audience award went to Czech rockumentary “PSH Neverending Story,” Štěpán FOK Vodrážka’s free-wheeling account of three Prague rapper heroes, Orion, Vladimir 518 and Mike Trafik, who as Peneři strýčka Homeboye (Uncle Homeboy’s Hoboes), made waves for decades in local clubs, parties and tabloid headlines.
The Karlovy Vary fest’s new Proxima competition – which has evolved from the former East of the West section, opening it up to global indie filmmakers doing remarkable work – honored the Czech doc “Art Talent Show,” directed by Adéla Komrzý and Tomáš Bojar, the chronicle of art school competitive spirit, with its top prize and $15,000.
The film also won a FIPRESCI prize, as did Official Selection film “Borders of Love,” an offbeat Czech/Polish look at open relationships directed by Tomasz Wiński.
“La Pietà,” a Spanish/Argentinian look at home life in hell directed by Eduardo Casanova, took the Proxima special jury prize and $10,000 while Croatian/Serbian 80s-set family story “The Uncle,” directed by David Kapac and Andrija Mardešić, had a special jury mention.
The Ecumenical Jury Award went to observational doc “A Provincial Hospital,” a Bulgarian/German production directed by Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov and Zlatina Teneva, while the Europa Cinemas Label Award honored Polish holiday polemic “Fucking Bornholm,” directed by Anna Kazejak.
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