Crystal Globe Competition

The first of two films selected for the Crystal Globe Competition, the main competition program of the festival, is Broken Voices directed and written by Ondřej Provazník, known for his earlier work Old-Timers (2019), co-directed with Martin Dušek. The film is produced by Jiří Konečný of endorfilm in co-production with Ivan Ostrochovský of Slovak production outfit Punkchart films, with additional backing by Czech Television, innogy, and Barrandov Studio, and the financial support by the Czech Audiovisual Fund.

Set in the early 1990s, the film follows thirteen-year-old Karolína, an outsider who dreams of joining the prestigious girls’ choir. In her pursuit of acceptance, she tries to win the favor of the choir’s charismatic conductor, Mácha. What begins as an innocent ambition soon takes a darker turn. The story is inspired by real-life events, particularly the infamous case of Bohumil Kulínský, the former choirmaster of the renowned Czech children's choir Bambini di Praga. Karolína is played by 13-year-old Kateřina Falbrová, a member of the Kühn Children’s Choir. Her older sister Lucie is portrayed by Maya Kintera, and Slovak actor Juraj Loj stars as the choirmaster Mácha. Filming took place across various locations in the Czech Republic—including the Krkonoše Mountains, Brno, and Mladá Boleslav—as well as in New York, where the choir performs on an international tour. The film will see it's world premiere at KVIFF.

Screenings
July 6 / 19:30 / Grand Hall
July 7 / 13:00 / Pupp
July 8 / 19:00 / Lazne III
July 9 / 16:00 / Congress Hall
 

Better to Go Mad in the Wild is an Czech-Slovak documentary directed by acclaimed Slovak filmmaker Miro Remo based on the book of the same name by Aleš Palán. Set against the backdrop of the mystical Šumava Mountains, the film delves into the lives of modern-day hermits across three generations. Through intimate portraits, it explores themes of solitude, self-discovery, and the human connection to nature.

The documentary offers an immersive journey into the lives of individuals who have chosen to retreat from mainstream society to live in harmony with nature. Rather than presenting these subjects as curiosities, the film provides a thoughtful exploration of their choices, examining what drives people to seek isolation and how such a lifestyle impacts their psyche.

Miro Remo is known for his compelling documentaries that often focus on individuals living on the fringes of society. His previous works include At Full Throttle and Richard Müller: This Is Not Me, both of which received critical acclaim. Better to Go Mad in the Wild is produced by Tomáš Hrubý and Pavla Janoušková Kubečková of nutprodukce, with Remo's own company, Arsy-Versy, and Czech Television serving as co-producers. The project has received support from Creative Europe – MEDIA, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, and the Czech Audiovisual Fund. The film will see it's world premiere at KVIFF.

Screenings
July 10 / 17:00 / Grand Hall
July 11 / 10:00 / Pupp
July 12 / 08:30 / Congress Hall
July 12 / 17:15 / Lazne III
 

Proxima Competition

Another film with a world premiere status is The Other Side of Summer, a Czech-Croatian feature film directed and written by Vojtěch Strakatý. This marks his second feature film, following his debut After Party, which premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024. Strakatý, a graduate of FAMO in Písek, is known for blending genres and focusing on strong female characters in his storytelling.

Set during a languid summer at a lakeside cottage, the film follows 15-year-old best friends Bětka and Alma. As Alma prepares to leave for school abroad, the girls seek one last adventure. Their plans lead them to a mysterious island in the middle of the lake, where they discover a magical pool that can transport a person anywhere in the world. Alma decides to go through the portal in search of a better place, prompting questions about desire, escape, and the human condition.

The film is a collaboration between Ondřej Lukeš of Czech production company Beginner's Mind and Crotian outfit Wolfgang&Dolly. It has received support from Czech Television, UPP, the Pardubice Region, and the municipality of Seč. The cast features Eliška Bašusová, Lucie Fingerhutová, Nikola Kylarová, and Sofie Anna Švehlíková. Cinematography is by Stanislav Adam, with editing by Filip de Pina.

Screenings
July 5 / 16:00 Karlovy Vary Theatre
July 6 / 12:00 / Cas Cinema
July 7 / 10:00 / Lazne III
July 8 / 11:30 / Cinema B
 

Apart from Strakatý's second film, Proxima also features a world premiere of Action Item, a Slovak-Czech co-production hybrid documentary by Paula Ďurinová. In her second feature documentary, Paula Ďurinová explores how personal experience of burnout shifts into collective sharing and awakening. Set in Berlin, Action Item transforms anxiety into resistance, reframing struggles through shared memory, found footage, and the politics of care. What if the real task is to unlearn, to pause, to reimagine?

Paula Ďurinová is a Slovak filmmaker, visual artist, and writer based in Berlin. Her work often intersects personal narratives with broader societal themes. Action Item is produced by Matej Sotník of Guča (Slovakia) and co-produced by Wanda Kaprálová and Klára Mamojková from Czech production outfit Claw AV. The film has received support from various institutions, including the Czech Audiovisual Fund. Interestingly enough, Action Item will also be also world premiered at the umcpoming 36th edition of FIDMarseille in a race case of shared world premiere.

Screenings
July 6 / 16:00 / Karlovy Vary Theatre
July 7 / 12:00 / Cas Cinema
July 8 / 15:00 / Lazne III
July 9 / 11:30 / Cinema B
 

Special Screenings

Special Screening section hosts four Czech film in total. First one is Caravan by Zuzana Kirchnerová, a poetic road movie about freedom, the different forms of love, and an urgent desire to finally start living instead of merely surviving, which will see a Czech premiere at KVIFF. The film, which premiered at Cannes this year, is produced by Dagmar Sedláčková of MasterFilm, with Slovak company nutprodukcia and Italian production firm Tempesta participating as co-producers. Additional partners include Czech Television, STVR: Slovak Television and Radio, Amygdala Pictures, and Innogy. The Czech Audiovisual Fund supported the film for production and through the production incentive programme.

Caravan marked a long-anticipated return of Czech cinema to the competitive sections of the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first majority Czech feature in Un Certain Regard in three decades.

Screenings
July 9 / 14:00 / Grand Hall
July 10 / 12:00 / Small Hall
July 12 / 16:00 / Kaiserbad
 

Another film is Summer School, 2001 by Dužan Duong, one of the most anticipated debuts from the rising generation of Czech filmmakers. Through a transgenerational lens, the film examines the intersection of tradition and modernity, exploring identity, family, and the challenges faced by Vietnamese immigrant communities. As the first Czech-Vietnamese film, Duong’s project is a major milestone in Czech cinema.

Summer School, 2001 was shot by cinematographer Adam Mach, who frequently works with the director Michal Blaško and served as the DoP on his critically acclaimed debut Victim (2022), the miniseries Suspicion (2022), and Duong’s Bo Hai. Lukáš Kokeš of the Czech outfit nutprodukce produced the film alongside Duong’s AZN kru and Jakub Viktorín of the Slovak company nutprodukcia, with Czech Television as coproducers.

Screenings
July 8 / 14:00 / Grand Hall
July 9 / 12:00 / Small Hall
July 11 / 22:00 / Kaiserbad
July 12 / 15:00 / Drahomira Cinema
 

Proxima also features an European premiere of Slovak-Czech co-production Promise, I’ll Be Fine, a coming of age feature debut by Slovak director Katarína Gramatová, produced by Igor Engler of DRYEYE FILM and Julie Marková Žáčková of NOCHI FILM, which started it's festival journey in the official competition of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival. Set in the rural village of Utekáč in Slovakia's Banská Bystrica region, the film follows 15-year-old Enrique, who spends his summer riding motorbikes with his friends. He lives with his grandma, doing odd jobs for his mother who occasionally comes to visit. When the tasks turn out to be not as honorable as he believed, he has to decide: stick to his values or cut off his mother for good.

Katarína Gramatová, known for her award-winning short film Cherries (2019), brought her editorial expertise to this project, having previously worked on notable music videos, including Stromae's "Santé." The film received backing from the Czech Audiovisual Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, and the Košice Region's Terra Incognita program.

Screenings
July 8 / 11:00 / Grand Hall
July 9 / 18:00 / Small Hall
July 11 / 21:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 12 / 09:00 / Cas Cinema
 

The Special Screenings program also features Duchoň, a Slovak-Czech biographical film directed by Peter Bebjak, chronicling the life of iconic Slovak singer Karol Duchoň. Known as the "Slovak Tom Jones," Duchoň captivated audiences in the 1970s and 1980s with his powerful voice and emotive performances. Despite his fame, his life was marked by personal struggles and a tragic end at the age of 35 in 1985. The film aims to provide an intimate portrayal of his journey, shedding light on lesser-known aspects of his life. Produced by Rastislav Šesták of Slovak company D.N.A. Production with it's Czech counterpart DNA Production co-producing.

Screenings
July 7 / 14:00 / Grand Hall
July 8 / 20:00 / Pupp
July 10 / 22:00 / Congress Hall
July 12 / 10:00 / Karlovy Vary Theatre
 

Yet another selected film is The Czech Film Project directed by Marek Novák and Mikuláš Novotný, a film poll presenting interviews with around thirty Czech or Czech-based filmmakers from all generations as they answer the question “What makes Czech film Czech?”. Produced by Xova Film and Background Films, and co-produced by KVIFF Events, Magic Lab and Studio BEEP.

Screenings
July 5 / 13:00 / Kaiserbad
July 6 / 16:00 / Congress Hall
July 9 / 21:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 11 / 20:00 / Cinema B

And finally, the Special Screenings section hosts a world premiere of the cinematic cut of the globally successful medieval open-world RPG video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II developed by the Czech video game developer Warhorse Studios.

Screenings
July 9 / 19:00 / Kaiserbad
July 12 / 19:00 / Kaiserbad

Imagina

The Imagina section at KVIFF is a non-competitive showcase focused on unconventional narratives and experimental filmmaking. It brings together both bold feature‑length works and short films. This year's selection offers four Czech entries, with three films with the world premiere status.

Festival stalwart Ondřej Vavrečka (Lichens Are the Way, De Potentia Dei) will present the world premiere of his new feature 1+1+1, the only Czech feature represented in this program. This playful film shot on 16mm medium deals with the idea of progress. It integrates situational acting with joyful elements of musical with meetings mostly writers and intellectuals in their natural environment. The story progresses through a road movie (sometimes a walk movie) – the journey of three main fictional characters. 1+1+1 was produced by Vít Janeček od D1film and supported by the Czech Audiovisual Fund.

Screenings
July 8 / 18:00 / Cas Cinema
July 9 / 12:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 12 / 17:30 / Drahomira Cinema
 

Another selected film with the world premiere status is In Person Only, a new short film directed by Tereza Vejvodová (From the Bottom, Delimitation). The film tells the story of a lonely programmer forced to leave his digital shell to discover that true connection cannot be programmed. In his carefully controlled world, nothing is alive except for the pet snail which he meticulously looks after. Also, outside his awareness are his mental processes, in the form of ghostly bodies that subtly influence his life. When an unexpected glitch disrupts his algorithmic reality, he is forced to step out of his comfort zone and confront his repressed anxieties about human contact. An unpredictable encounter challenges the sustainability of his way of life and proves that even in the age of automation, human closeness is irreplaceable. In Person Only was produced by Martina Knoblochová and Ondřej Beránek of Punk Film with the support of the Czech Audiovisual Fund, and City of Prague.

World premiere also awaites an animated short Sleep Dreams by Anastázie Rainischová, a student at Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze (UMPRUM), produced by Michaela Režová of UMPRUM in co-production with FILMTALENT ZLÍN Endowment Fund.

Screenings (for both films)
July 5 / 18:00 / Cas Cinema
July 6 / 15:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 12 / 16:30 / Husovka Theatre

Finally, Oliver Torr, who composed the soundtrack for last year’s documentary I'm not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská, will introduce his short film debut N3G.

Screenings
July 4 / 16:30 / Husovka Theatre
July 7 / 22:30 / Husovka Theatre
July 9 / 18:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 10 / 16:30 / Husovka Theatre
 

FUTURE FRAMES: Generation NEXT of European Cinema

Launched eleven years ago by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the FUTURE FRAMES programme continues to serve as a steadfast springboard for emerging European directing talents. Terézie Halamová of FAMU is among the young filmmakers selected for this year's iteration along with her latest short film Dog and Wolf, produced by Natalia Pavlove of production outfit Other Stories and co-produced by FAMU.

The 2025 edition of FUTURE FRAMES – Generation NEXT of European Cinema is supported by Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union and held in cooperation with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and its partner Allwyn, the leading multi-national lottery-led entertainment company.

Screening
July 7 / 18:00 / Small Hall
 

Out of the Past

The Out of the Past section celebrates iconic films and filmmakers from cinema history. The program showcases digitally restored classics, cult favorites, and overlooked gems, offering audiences a chance to revisit or discover influential works that have shaped the art of filmmaking. This year, the program contains the restored version of Ecce Homo Homolka directed by Jaroslav Papoušek, a cult Czechoslovak comedy from 1969, and Every Young Man, a short story diptych from the military service environment, directed by Pavel Juráček in 1965.

Screenings
Ecce Homo Moholka
July 6 / 11:00 / Grand Hall
July 10 / 09:00 / Cas Cinema

Every Young Man
July 5 / 13:30 / Husovka Theatre
July 9 / 10:00 / Karlovy Vary Theatre
 

Tribute to Jiří Brožek

A tribute to prolific Czech editor Jiří Brožek offers a special screening of The Death of the Beautiful Deer by Karel Kachyňa, a poetic adaptation of Ota Pavel's autobi­ographical book about his happy childhood before the Second World War.

Screening:
July 10 / 16:00 / Karlovy Vary Theatre

Pragueshorts at KVIFF

The Pragueshorts at KVIFF is a dedicated showcase of short films—featuring curated selections of outstanding international and Czech shorts. This year's selection contains the following Czech films: Butterfly Girl by Ema Hůlková, Hurikan by Jan Saska, I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falileieva, Keep Out by Tan-Lui Chan, My Homeland by Sarah Slavíčková, Stone of Destiny by Julie Černá, and Writing Home by Eva Matejovičová. Some of these are also part of our 2025 Czech Short Films collection.

Screenings
Butterfly Girl, Hurikan, I Died in Irpin, Keep Out, My Homeland, Stone of Destiny
July 6 / 18:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 7 / 12:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 11 / 16:30 / Husovka Theatre

Writing Home
July 5 / 09:00 / Drahomira Cinema
July 8 / 09:00 / Cinema B
July 12 / 09:00 / Cinema B