Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Marks 60 Years of Heritage and Innovation

The legacy of Václav Havel and Jiří Bartoška continues to shape the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), and participants in its 60th edition will experience both tradition and forward‑looking initiatives that reflect the festival’s enduring history and ongoing evolution.

Kryštof Mucha, who joined the festival in 1997 and assumed the role of executive director in 2004, now also serves as chairman of the KVIFF Group board. He and his colleagues are dedicated to bridging the past with the future, a theme that will anchor this year’s double‑anniversary edition—celebrating the festival’s 80th year.

Renowned as one of the world’s oldest film festivals, Karlovy Vary was a cornerstone of the post‑war European festival movement. Its inaugural edition in 1946 was a non‑competitive showcase of 13 films, featuring international selections, organized jointly by the spa towns of Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary during the first half of August.

Earlier this year, organizers emphasized that the 1946 edition predated the debut editions of both Cannes and Locarno. Initially titled the Czechoslovak Film Festival, the event was staged first in Mariánské Lázně, then in both Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary, and subsequently became centered solely in Karlovy Vary.

The Venice Film Festival, founded in 1932 and revived in 1946, predates KVIFF’s inaugural edition, making it the oldest continuously running festival of its kind.

This extensive history, marked by triumphs and challenges, will be celebrated during the festival’s double‑anniversary year. Two iconic figures—long‑standing festival president Jiří Bartoška, who passed away last May after three decades as the public face of KVIFF, and Václav Havel, the playwright‑turned‑president who died in 2011—have served as ambassadors for the festival.

“This year’s anniversaries provide an opportunity to showcase pivotal moments in the festival’s history,” Mucha explains. “We will install a city‑wide exhibition of historic photographs of Jiří Bartoška, as we did last year, and present archival images of Václav Havel, who would have turned 90 this year, to honor his enduring support.”

Regarding the significance of the politician‑turned‑festival‑president and the actor‑turned‑festival‑president for KVIFF, Mucha tells THR: “Havel was a pivotal figure in the festival’s modern era, as Bartoška brought Miloš Forman to the event, and Havel’s friendship with Bartoška attracted widespread attention. Meeting Václav Havel became a coveted experience for many in the film world.”

The story unfolds as follows: Havel would advise film professionals wishing to meet him to travel to Karlovy Vary in July. “That was the highest form of support we could receive,” Mucha recalls. “When I was in the United States, I prepared invitation letters on his behalf. In his office, he used green and red pens to write, ‘We will see each other in Karlovy Vary,’ and those letters proved invaluable.”

The partnership of these two figures proved essential during a crisis in 1993, when the newly formed Czech Republic cut funding for many cultural institutions, threatening KVIFF’s existence. Following public outcry, the Ministry of Culture assembled a coalition of influential citizens, including Bartoška and veteran journalist Eva Zaoralová, to chart a solution. Their collaboration with the Ministry, the City of Karlovy Vary, and the historic Grand Hotel Pupp—later a model for Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel—led to the creation of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation.

In 1995, Bartoška assumed the presidency, while Zaoralová—who served as program director until her death in 2022—curated the program. When the International Federation of Producers Associations stripped KVIFF of its A‑category status and transferred it to the emerging Golden Golem Festival in Prague, Havel intervened by refusing to attend the Prague event and instead appearing at the opening night of KVIFF, helping steer the festival toward its current status as a premier destination for cinephiles and celebrities.

KVIFF’s legacy extends beyond these two figures, and as Mucha notes, “We take pride in being the world’s second‑oldest film festival—only a few days younger than Locarno and Cannes—and this distinction remains a point of pride for us.”

Coincidentally, this year marks the 60th edition of KVIFF within its 80th year, a nuance that can be confusing. During the Soviet era, officials sought to establish a major festival in Moscow but recognized the existing prominence of Karlovy Vary. “Thus the festivals were scheduled on a biennial basis, alternating between Karlovy Vary and Moscow,” Mucha explains.

When Bartoška passed away last year, many questioned whether he was the festival’s founder, revealing a widespread lack of awareness about KVIFF’s origins dating back to 1946. “We realized we needed to remind people of this heritage and encourage pride in it,” Mucha says.

This year’s lineup announcement also honored the festival’s founding figure, longtime programming director A. M. Brousil, whose early emphasis on non‑European cinema expanded the festival’s scope beyond its regional roots. Karlovy Vary proudly underscores that the anniversary program showcases “extraordinary geographical diversity.”

This intersection of past and future sustains KVIFF’s vitality. As Mucha concludes, “Our festival has weathered the challenging decades of Soviet‑era governance in this country, and its rich history warrants pride and celebration.”

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