The 49th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which will take place on July 4–12 in Carlsbad, the Czech Republic, will showcase ten women-directed films (from a total of 34).
Female representation at the Karlovy Vary, the premier festival of Central and Eastern Europe, is slightly higher in the competition categories. Eight of the 24 films in the Official Selection and East of the West competitions were made by women directors.
Among them is the Latvian-American director Signe Baumane, whose Kickstarter-funded Rocks in My Pockets is the first animated feature in the festival’s history. The autobiographical “funny film about depression,” made with papier-mache, stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, centers on five women in Baumane’s family and their struggles with depression and mental illness.
Baumane commented, “In some ways Rocks In My Pockets is an old-fashioned detective story. Me digging into family history, searching for clues, figuring things out — why some of us have obsessive suicidal thoughts, why we break down, what makes us who we are, and in the end what saves us. Hopefully people find the film entertaining.”
Here’s a list of the female filmmakers to be featured at Karlovy Vary:
OFFICIAL SELECTION — COMPETITION
“Fair Play,” Andrea Sedlackova (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Germany) International premiere
“Rocks in My Pockets,” Signe Baumane (U.S., Latvia) World premiere
“Welkome Home,” Angelina Nikonova (Russia) International premiere
EAST OF THE WEST — COMPETITION
“Bota,” Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci (Albania, Italy) World premiere
“Drevo” (The Tree), Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia) World premiere
“Kirsitubakas” (Cherry Tobacco), Andres Maimik, Katrin Maimik (Estonia) World premiere
“Rozkos” (Delight), Jitka Rudolfova (Czech Republic) International premiere
“Utoelet” (Afterlife), Virag Zomboracz (Hungary) World premiere
VARIETY CRITICS’ CHOICE
“Insecure,” Marianne Tardieu (France)
“Macondo,” Sudabeh Mortezai (Austria)
[via Variety]
