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The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has announced the official selection for its 59th edition, showcasing a sweeping slate of world premieres from around the globe—while preparing for its first festival without longtime president Jiří Bartoška, who died earlier this year.
Eleven films will compete in the Crystal Globe Competition, with a 12th—an Iranian entry—being withheld for safety reasons. The lineup reflects a mix of global perspectives, exploring themes of war, identity, and emotional survival.
Czech and Slovak voices are strongly represented. Broken Voices, a psychological drama by Ondřej Provazník, tells the story of 13-year-old Karolína, a gifted singer on the cusp of joining a prestigious girls’ choir. The film delves into power, mentorship, and the emotional costs of early ambition.
Miro Remo’s Better Go Mad in the Wild offers a compelling Czech-Slovak documentary portrait of two eccentric twins living in rural isolation—men who defy societal norms in pursuit of a freer, if lonelier, life.
Other highlights include Cinema Jazireh, a harrowing story of a mother navigating Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and Divia, a Ukrainian documentary chronicling the environmental toll of war. French filmmaker Nathan Ambrosioni’s Out of Love explores sudden motherhood, while Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf returns with the haunting Jimmy Jaguar.
American director Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding presents a soft-spoken story of resilience in post-wildfire Colorado. Norway’s Don’t Call Me Mama examines a morally complex bond between a teacher and a refugee teenager.
Emerging filmmakers will compete in the Proxima section, which includes Peru’s time-bending political allegory The Anatomy of the Horses and Sand City from Bangladesh, a surreal tale of sand thieves and existential dread. Colombia’s Forensics and Brazil’s Future Future add experimental and politically engaged storytelling to the mix.
The 2025 festival marks a turning point for Karlovy Vary following the death of Bartoška, who led the event for nearly three decades and was widely credited with transforming it into Central Europe’s leading film festival.
Karel Och, the festival’s artistic director, praised the selection: “The festival continues to showcase filmmakers who challenge expectations and push boundaries, while preserving the vital connection between a film and its audience.” Organizers have not yet announced this year’s special guests or honorees.
For those unable to attend in person, the annual Echoes of KVIFF (Šary Vary) will once again bring select films to cinemas across the Czech Republic in the weeks following the main event. The official dates for Šary Vary 2025 have not yet been announced. However, based on previous years, it's likely that the event will take place in mid-July, shortly after KVIFF. In 2024, it ran from July 8-14.
The 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs July 4–12 in the Czech spa town.
Festival Highlights: 59th Karlovy Vary IFF
Czech & Slovak standouts
• Broken Voices – A tense coming-of-age drama by Ondřej Provazník about a gifted teen singer and the pressures of ambition.
• Better Go Mad in the Wild – Miro Remo’s offbeat documentary on two reclusive twin brothers defying convention in rural Slovakia.
Global premieres to watch
• Cinema Jazireh – A mother’s harrowing fight for survival in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
• Divia – A Ukrainian doc exploring the environmental scars of war.
• Out of Love – French filmmaker Nathan Ambrosioni’s raw portrait of sudden motherhood.
• Jimmy Jaguar – Bence Fliegauf’s haunting return to Karlovy Vary.
• Rebuilding – A quiet story of healing in wildfire-ravaged Colorado (USA).
• Don’t Call Me Mama – Norway’s morally complex look at a refugee-mentor relationship.
Proxima Competition picks
• The Anatomy of the Horses (Peru) – A political allegory that bends time.
• Sand City (Bangladesh) – Surrealism meets existential dread.
• Forensics (Colombia) and Future Future (Brazil) – Bold, experimental, and politically sharp.
