'Terribly Happy' wins top prize at Karlovy Vary
The 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival closed on Saturday in traditional fashion with the handing out of Crystal Globe awards. It was a Danish film, 'Terribly Happy', which scooped the out-and-out top prize, though the Czechs were represented in other categories – with the Crystal Globes for best actor and best actress this year remaining firmly on Czech soil.

Ivan Passer: Czech new wave filmmaker at helm of Karlovy Vary jury

My guest for this edition of One on One is Ivan Passer, who this week received a Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary for his lifelong contribution to world cinema. The president of this year’s festival jury fled communist Czechoslovakia in 1968, after directing what has been voted one of the best Czech films ever made – ‘Intimate Lighting’ is a black-and-white new wave classic telling the story of two friends reunited.

Karlovy Vary: the best of the fest
Karlovy Vary is best-known for its health-giving waters. I'm right now inside the Sprudl Colonnade, or Vridelni kolonada, where people are filling up their special spa water mugs with all types of the hot, sulphurous stuff. But, for eight days a year, the attention shifts elsewhere, and a different crowd comes to Karlovy Vary for the biggest film festival in Central and Eastern Europe. This year, the festival has been bigger, busier and better than ever, here are just a few of the highlights...

Petr Alexander: the man in charge of providing subtitles to movies at the Karlovy Vary festival
The International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary is drawing to a close and film fans are cramming cinema halls to see as much as they can in the remaining 24 hours. But few of those watching the movies get a look behind the scenes or find out how much hard work and preparation has gone into making the festival a success. Some time ago I met with Petr Alexander who is responsible for providing subtitles to the films shown at the festival. For him and his team of translators, the festival starts much earlier than for the rest of us:

New Hollywood classics get rare big-screen airing at Karlovy Vary
The New Hollywood section at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is back due to popular demand. This year, director Paul Mazursky and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond are just two of the big names presenting the festival’s retrospective of 1970s American films. The period, which spawned movies such as ‘Easy Rider’, ‘Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice’ and ‘McCabe and Mrs Miller’, is often thought of as one of Tinseltown’s finest. Variety magazine’s Steven Gaydos helped bring some of these classic Hollywood films to the Karlovy Vary film fest:

‘Karlovy Vary more colourful than ever’ says jury president Ivan Passer
The president of this year’s jury at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival is legendary Czech new wave director Ivan Passer. The man who made his name working with Miloš Forman, and then solo with films like ‘Intimate Lighting’ and ‘A Boring Afternoon’, has accepted the prestigious post and returned to the Czech Republic some 40 years after emigrating to the United States.

"Night Owls" premieres at Karlovy Vary
Monday at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival saw the world premiere of ‘Night Owls’ – one of the two Czech films in this year’s competition. The movie was directed by Oscar-nominated animator, Michaela Pavlátová, and stars the young Czech talents Martha Issová and Jiří Mádl. In the run up to the big screening, Rosie Johnston caught up with Michaela Pavlátová on the terrace at the spa town’s Hotel Thermal.

Robert De Niro opens Karlovy Vary Film Festival
One of the most anticipated stars to appear at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was Robert De Niro. Thousands turned out on Friday to catch a glimpse of the actor as he walked up the red carpet at a downtown hotel. De Niro’s star turn marked the opening of the film festival and, as Rosie Johnston reports, there’s more on its way.

Karlovy Vary Film Festival kicks off
It’s lights, camera, action in Karlovy Vary, with the town's 43rd annual film festival kicking off on Friday. Over the next eight days, festival-goers will be treated to screenings of over 220 films, and around 60 premieres. Each year, the population of the picturesque and otherwise tranquil West Bohemian spa town swells to over three times its normal size - as industry bigwigs, stars, and film-lovers flock to Karlovy Vary from all over the world.

Countdown to Karlovy Vary Film Festival begins
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the highlights on the Czech cultural calendar. In this, its 43rd year, the festival promises to be bigger than ever. It all kicks off in two weeks’ time in the pretty Bohemian spa town, but ahead of the grand opening, organizers held a meeting in Prague on Monday, to drop a few hints about what could be expected. I spoke to program director Julietta Sichel about what would be new at the festival this year:

	Robert de Niro
Robert de Niro with his wife	Robert de Niro	Robert de Niro
Brenda Blethyn	Marek Eben	Klára Issová and David Ondříček
Ivan Passer	Bolek Polívka	Mirek Topolánek
Miroslav Donutil	J.P. Muchow	Jiří Macháček
	Eva Zaoralová and Armin Mueller-Stahl
Robert de Niro	Johanna ter Stegge	Robert de Niro
Robert de Niro	Robert de Niro	Robert de Niro
Jiří Bartoška	Juraj Jakubisko	Robert de Niro
Les tremblements lointains - Jean-Francois Stévenin	Les tremblements lointains - Amélie Daure	Les tremblements lointains - Boris Van Gils, Amélie Daure, Manuel Potte
Pretextos - Laia Marull, Antoni Camín	Pretextos - Silvia Munt	Děti noci - Jiří Mádl, Marta Issová
Danny Glover
	Dr. Aleman
Karamazovi - Ivan Trojan	Karamazovi - Petr Zelenka	Karamazovi - Martin Myšička

Photo: Štěpánka Budková