While the KVIFF’s history after the Velvet Revolution is generally known, information about the Festival in the Communist era is much scarcer. The book Interweaving Worlds. The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival during the Cold War, prepared by film publicist Jindřiška Bláhová as editor and a collective of nine authors, provides the missing pieces to complete the picture. “The history of the festival is often trapped in a national narrative, but our intention was to explore the international dimension, the importance of the festival on the world scene, among intellectuals, and its impact for example on Brazilian and African filmmakers or Polish actresses,” the author explained at Thursday’s book launch on the terrace of the Thermal Hotel.
“We want to show a world that was intertwined and far less polarized than it is often portrayed today. We look at the events from outside and in hindsight,” she said before the launching of the book under patronage of actor Ivan Trojan. “The only time I read is in bed, so I hope to fall asleep with this book in hand,” the actor mused.
