The 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is running from Friday July 3 to Saturday July 11. In the early 1990s the Karlovy Vary festival had become somewhat moribund; however, since being taken over in 1994 by artistic director Eva Zaoralová, president Jiří Bartoška and their team it has enjoyed a great revival, becoming one of the biggest cultural and social events of the year in the Czech Republic.

This year 220 films across 25 programme sections are being shown. In competition for the Crystal Globe are 14 films from 14 countries. Among the special guests in the pretty west Bohemian spa town this year are actors John Malkovich, Antonio Banderas and Isabelle Huppert.

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Photo : Štěpánka Budková