Dear festivalgoers,
Welcome to Karlovy Vary, which every year at the start of the summer holidays enjoys ten days as Europe’s capital of cinema. This year marks the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, one of a select few Category A international competitive festivals. As always, the city practically never sleeps during these days, and in addition to carefully selected films from all over the world visitors are treated to a wide variety of concerts, talks with filmmakers, and showings of non-cinematic art.
Like the generations that preceded us, we place great value on your stay in Karlovy Vary being a pleasant one, and we hope that you will return home with wonderful memories not just of the festival but of the city’s overall cultural life and atmosphere. I am sure that anyone so inclined can fill every minute of their time in Vary with something to do, but just between us: if there is one thing that sets our festival apart from many others, then it’s the fact that it offers opportunities for spending your free time relaxing and just enjoying the day. You can throw yourself into the action – or you can cross the street and let yourself be enveloped in the welcoming embrace of our parks and forests.
Seeing several films in one day is not nearly as easy as it might seem. Cinema is an extremely intense medium. Besides telling stories – some grand and incredible, others more intimate – film also depicts us, our society, and our polis, and also our individual actions, motivations, fears, and desires. After seeing a good film, it’s not unusual for people to need a moment to process it in peace. As the historian Martin C. Putna writes in Homér 21: “Films are the epics of our times. Films arouse and reflect our feelings and passions. Films shape our understanding of ‘what we are’ as individuals, communities, nations, and people as such.”
I wish you a pleasant time at this year’s celebration of cinema, and I look forward to seeing you there!
