The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced its 2017 competition lineups. Of 35 films screening in competition programs, nine are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to 26 percent of the slate.
There are three competition programs: the Official Selection or main competition, East of West, and Documentary. The numbers for female filmmakers are consistent across each section.
The Official Selection includes Rachel Israel’s Tribeca winner “Keep the Change,” a love story that centers on characters who meet in a support group for adults living with autism and features a cast of nonprofessional actors on the autism spectrum. The crowd-pleaser won the U.S. Narrative Feature Competition at Tribeca and Israel was named Best New Narrative Director. Also screening in this program are Iulia Rugină’s “Breaking News,” a portrait of a TV reporter who survived a tragic accident, and “Birds Are Singing in Kigali,” a drama set during the Rwandan genocide co-directed by Joanna Kos-Krauze.
The East of West Competition features first and second films from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Mariam Khatchvani’s “Dede” is among the titles screening in this program. The drama is set in Svaneti, a mountainous region in northwestern Georgia where Khatchvani was born, and the story centers on a woman who is battling overwhelming pressure to conform to centuries-old traditions.
The Documentary slate includes “My Life without Air,” a portrait of a free diving record-holder directed by Bojana Burnać. “Between each inhalation and exhalation we experience an endless emotional fall into the depths of the deep blue sea,” the doc’s synopsis promises.
The 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will take place June 30-July 8 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Check out all of the women-directed and co-directed films screening in the competition sections below. List adapted from ScreenDaily and synopses courtesy of the fest.
OFFICIAL SELECTION — COMPETITION (3/12 women-directed or co-directed)
Breaking News
Director: Iulia Rugină
Romania, 2017, 81 min, International premiere
A difficult assignment awaits TV reporter Alex. He must film a memorial portrait for a coworker who died in a tragic accident they both experienced but that only he survived. His colleague’s daughter becomes his guide, although her relationship to her father was more than complicated. Alex becomes an involuntary witness to the girl’s handling of her father’s death, and he also comes to believe that chronicling a person’s life involves more than just a short news report…
Keep The Change (Drobné si nechte)
Director: Rachel Israel
USA, 2017, 94 min, International premiere
Stylish but apathetic, David meets bundle of energy Sarah at a support group. While he’s just fulfilling a court-ordered obligation, she is thrilled to be there. But as they move past their initial conflicts, they become participants in an uncommon romance that won’t yield to convention. Keep the Change is a different kind of romantic comedy about people who are not the same — like most of us.
Birds Are Singing in Kigali (Ptaki śpiewają w Kigali)
Director: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Poland, 2017, 120 min, World premiere
We meet ornithologist Anne in 1994 just as genocide is raging in Rwanda, perpetrated by the majority Hutus against the Tutsis. Anne manages to save the daughter of a colleague whose family has been murdered, and she takes her to Poland. But the woman returns to Rwanda to visit the graves of her loved ones. The director originally worked on the movie with her husband Krzysztof Krauze (My Nikifor — Crystal Globe, KVIFF 2004), but after his death in 2014 she eventually finished this challenging picture alone.
EAST OF THE WEST — COMPETITION (3/12 women-directed or co-directed)
Dede
Director: Mariam Khatchvani
Georgia, United Kingdom, 2017, 97 min, World premiere
It’s 1992. Young Dina lives in a remote mountain village where life is strictly governed by centuries of tradition. Is it possible to defy the firmly established order? And, if it is, what price must a person pay for doing so? Debut director Mariam Khatchvani set her first film in Svaneti, the stark mountainous region in northwestern Georgia where she herself was born, and she presents us with an authentic portrayal of a number of customs and traditions associated with this province.
The Man Who Looks Like (Me Minu näoga onu)
Director: Katrin Maimik, Andres Maimik
Estonia, 2017, 100 min, World premiere
Music critic Hugo is going through a post-divorce crisis and just wants some peace to finish writing his book. When his bohemian father suddenly appears on his doorstep, it becomes clear that the new life he has chosen for himself is about to go in quite a different direction. A tragicomic tale about parents and children and their shared mistakes and complexes.
Falling (Strimholov)
Director: Marina Stepanska
Ukraine, 2017, 105 min, World premiere
Anton and Katia happen upon one another in night-time Kiev. Both are trying to find their bearings in life, and their encounter changes everything… This psychological drama by debuting Marina Stepanska offers up both a fragile love story and a strong statement on the current young generation as it searches for its place in post-revolutionary Ukraine.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS — COMPETITION (3/11 women-directed or co-directed)
Before Summer Ends (Avant la fin de l’été)
Director: Maryam Goormaghtigh
Switzerland, France, 2017, 80 min, International premiere
Even after studying in France for five years, Arash hasn’t completely gotten used to the place, so he decides to return home to Iran. But friends Hossein and Ashkan are determined not to accept the loss of their closest pal. This documentary comedy, about a goodbye road trip across France, boasts beer chugging and French girls, but it’s also about cultural differences and the natural need to find and hold onto kindred spirits when living in a foreign land.
Land of the Free (Země svobodných)
Director: Camilla Magid
Denmark, Finland, 2017, 95 min, International premiere
In the economically depressed neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles it’s far too easy to get on the wrong side of the law. One fateful day 42-year-old Brian, who has just been released from serving a long prison sentence, experiences it firsthand. The vicious cycle of social determination, however, also begins to effect the lives of teenager Juan and seven-year-old Gianni. The debuting director immerses herself in the depths of human vulnerability in order to draw out fragments of hope.
My Life without Air (Moj život bez zraka)
Director: Bojana Burnać
Croatia, 2017, 72 min, European premiere
The most important moments in the life of Goran, a Croatian free diving record-holder, take place exclusively underwater. This portrait of an extreme athlete features intentional dramatic minimalism in order to guide the viewer toward a shared physical experience of performances that push the boundaries of what is humanly possible. Between each inhalation and exhalation we experience an endless emotional fall into the depths of the deep blue sea.
