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The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has concluded yet another wonderful week of cinematic discoveries. Previously announced awards were given to a variety of contributors to global cinema. Russell Crowe received the Crystal Globe For Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, the Festival President’s Award For Contribution to Czech Cinematography was presented to Daniela Kolářová, and the Festival President’s Award was bestowed on Alicia Vikander, Ewan McGregor, and Robin Wright.

Continue reading Bulgarian Drama ‘Blaga’s Lessons’ Takes Top Prize: Full Karlovy Vary 2023 Award Winners at The Playlist.

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival organization has announced winners from the 2023 event, with the Bulgaria/Germany co-production “Blaga’s Lessons” (“Urotcite na Blaga”) and the Germany/Iran co-production “Empty Nets” (“Toorhaye khali”) taking home top honors.

“Blaga’s lessons” won the Grand Prix Award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize for director Stephan Komandarev, to be split with the film’s producer.

Meanwhile, “Empty Nets” won the Special Jury Prize, securing a $15,00 prize for its director, Behrooz Karamizade, also to be split with the film’s producer.

Other winners include Best Director for Babak Jalali for the American production “Fremont,” and the French entry, “The Edge of the Blade,” directed by Vincent Perez, which won the The Pravo Audience Award.

Read on for the complete winner’s list.

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Crystal Globe Competition

Jury members:

Dora Bouchoucha,...

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) by director Stephan Komandarev.

The third film in the director’s trilogy about his country’s social ills focuses on an old woman duped by a telephone scam.

Also among winners on the night were Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade (Une Affaire D’honneur), which took home the audience award, and filmmaker Babak Jalali, who took home the best director prize for the film Fremont.

There were two prizes on the night for Ernst De Geer’s The Hypnosis (Hypnosen) while the top industry award of 90,000 euros went to Czech film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, which is currently in post.

As previously revealed, Russell Crowe...

Stephan Komandarev’s Blaga’s Lessons, a Bulgarian/German co-production, has been chosen as the winner of the top prize — the Crystal Globe, which comes with a $25,000 prize — of the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The festival announced the winners during its closing ceremony on Saturday. The film’s star, Eli Skorcheva, was named best actress. (See THR‘s review of the film here.)

Meanwhile, the top Czech festival’s special jury prize, which comes with a $15,000 check, was awarded to Behrooz Karamizade’s German-Iranian co-production Empty Nets (see THR’s review). Its audience award went to Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade, a French film (see THR’s interview with Perez), and a special jury mention was designated for Cyril Aris’ Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a German-Lebanese entry (see THR’s review).

Babak Jalali was honored as best director for the American film Fremont,...

Prizes also for ‘The Hypnosis’, ‘Fremont’.

Stephan Komandarev’s Bulgarian-German drama Blaga’s Lessons led the winners at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), taking three prizes including the Crystal Globe Grand Prix.

The eighth feature from Bulgarian filmmaker Komandarev also received the best actress prize, for Eli Skorcheva; and a non-statutory Grand Prize from the ecumenical jury.

The main Grand Prix from the Crystal Globe jury consists of $25,000, to be shared equally between the director and producers, the latter of which are Komandarev and Katya Trichkova.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Blaga’s Lessons...

Bulgarian crime story “Blaga’s Lessons” by Stephan Komandarev scored the top prize and $25,000 at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday, capping a week of celebrating art film, stars and bold global work.

Calling his film a tribute to his parents’ generation, many of whom have become victims of the rough transition to capitalism, Komandarev accepted his Crystal Globe from actor Robin Wright and fest president Jiri Bartoska.

Wright, on winning the fest president’s prize moments earlier, said festgoers in the Czech spa town have shown a love for experiencing cinemas onscreen, urging them to keep up that passion as streaming platforms erode cinema audiences that have still not fully rebounded from pandemic days. “I thank all of you for supporting cinema. Let’s bring it back – Covid put a bit of downer on that.”

With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...

Russell Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Kviff organizers announced on Friday. And unlike past recipients of the Crystal Globe like Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Mel Gibson, Judi Dench and Robert De Niro, Crowe will also perform on the festival’s opening night with his rock band, Indoor Garden Party.

The festival, which takes place in a spa town outside Prague in the Czech Republic, will present Crowe with the award on its opening night, June 30. It will also celebrate Crowe’s career with a 20th anniversary screening of Peter Weir’s 2003 epic “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”

Kviff also announced that Johnny Depp, who was a special guest at the festival two years ago, has starred in the festival’s new trailer, which will premiere on its opening night. Depp,...

Crowe will perform at opening night with his band Indoor Garden Party.

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) will present an honorary award to Russell Crowe at its 57th edition, for which the festival trailer will feature former honoree Johnny Depp.

Australian actor Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema, an honorary award previously presented to Robert DeNiro, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore and last year’s recipient Geoffrey Rush.

Crowe will also play at the festival’s opening ceremony on Friday, June 30 with his band Indoor Garden Party. The festival will play a 20-year...

Executive will be involved in acquisitions, casting and production.

UK-North American distribution company 101 Films has appointed Marzenna Czubowicz as director of acquisitions.

Based in the UK, Czubowicz will acquire feature films for 101, focusing on commercially-driven titles of all genres and budgets.

She will attend next month’s Cannes market in her new role, which will include involvement in acquisitions, casting and production for both 101 Films International and sister company Amcomri Productions.

Czubowicz was most recently acquisitions consultant at Sky and Sky Showtime. She has previously held sales positions at Beyond Rights, BBC Worldwide and Alliance Atlantis.

“With almost...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has shared details about its forthcoming 57th edition, which runs from June 30 – July 8.

Among the highlights announced today, the festival will host two large-scale retrospective programs. The first, a celebration of independent Iranian cinema, will feature works by nine Iranian filmmakers who the festival said represent “a spiritual connection to the previous generations of their country’s greats, tackle the current reality with a remarkable sensitivity and great inventiveness.”

“Together, these nine unique and intensely personal testimonies form a multi-dimensional mosaic that reflects the collective spirit and openness of Iran’s young cinema of today,” the festival added.”

The selection of films will include The Skin, K9, and Dream’s Gate.

The second retrospective will celebrate the work of Japanese filmmaker Yasuzo Masumura, a little-seen but towering figure of Japan’s New Wave. The screening...

Festival will also host a retrospective of the work of Japanese filmmaker Yasuzo Masumura.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) will host a retrospective on Iranian cinema as part of its 2023 edition, which will also honour the work of Czech actress Daniela Kolarova.

Under the title ‘Another Birth. Iranian Cinema, Here And Now’, the festival will play nine Iranian films from the past four years. Titles include Vahid Vakilifar’s 2020 sci-fi K9, about the efforts of a group of extremists after a solar eclipse has drenched the earth in darkness; and Farzin Mohammadi’s 2019 Black And White River, about...