The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 54th edition. Cineuropa confirms 12 titles have been selected for the fest’s Main Competition. Three of those films, or 25 percent, are directed or co-directed by women. Overall, women helmed or co-helmed about 24 percent of the entire 2019 program.
The women-helmed pics chosen for the Main Competition are Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s “The Father,” Dwein Baltazar’s “Ode to Nothing,” and Martha Stephens’ “To the Stars.” “The Father” is a family drama with an undercurrent of dark humor, while “Ode to Nothing” sees a middle-aged woman getting a new lease on life when she comes across a corpse. As Stephens told us in an interview, “To the Stars” “follows a timid and cloistered teen girl’s coming of age in 1961 Oklahoma as she develops her first authentic friendship with a restless and enigmatic new girl.”
Lendita Zeqiraj is the only woman director featured in the fest’s East of the West section. Her film, “Aga’s House,” will open the category, which boasts 12 pics overall. The drama centers on a boy living in a house full of women and longing to meet his father.
Four of the 11 Documentary Competition selections are women-directed. Among them are Laila Pakalnina’s “Spoon” and Mijie Li’s “Confucian Dream.” The former is a wordless portrait of a plastic spoon — and the environmental impact its creation makes. “Confucian Dream” is about a modern Chinese mother struggling to fit tradition into her family’s life.
Helena Třeštíková and Jakub Hejna’s “Forman vs. Forman” and Olga Sommerová’s “Jiří Suchý: Tackling Life with Ease” are the only women-helmed/co-helmed films in Karlovy Vary’s Official Selection, which features seven total out-of-competition titles. “Forman vs. Forman” chronicles the work of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ” director Milos Forman, while “Jiří Suchý” examines the life of the titular actor and writer.
The 2019 Karlovy Vary International Film Fest will take place June 28-July 6 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
All of the women-directed/co-directed titles are below. List adapted from Cineuropa.
Main Competition
The Father – Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)
Ode to Nothing – Dwein Baltazar (Philippines)
To the Stars – Martha Stephens (USA)
East of the West
Aga’s House – Lendita Zeqiraj (Kosovo/Croatia/France/Albania)
Documentary Competition
Spoon – Laila Pakalnina (Latvia/Norway/Lithuania)
Confucian Dream – Mijie Li (China)
The Last Autumn – Yrsa Roca Fannberg (Iceland)
Immortal – Ksenia Okhapkina (Estonia/Latvia)
Official Selection – Out of Competition
Forman vs. Forman – Helena Třeštíková, Jakub Hejna (Czech Republic/France)
Jiří Suchý: Tackling Life with Ease – Olga Sommerová (Czech Republic)
