New at KVIFF.TV, you can see the historical drama Firebrand, the opening film of last year’s festival. The film’s star and recipient of the KVIFF President’s Award Alicia Vikander was on hand to introduce the film in person. In Firebrand, she excels as the sixth wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Parr, who yearned to go against the established order and pushed for a reform of the church. Speaking about her role as the strong and courageous queen, Alicia said: “I didn’t know that much about her, maybe because I wasn’t brought up with British history. She was a pretty extraordinary woman. She published books in her own name, which no woman would have done at that period of time. It’s important to tell stories of women and not shy away from showing all their sides.”
Jude Law, who portrays Henry VIII, also has a history at the Karlovy Vary festival: he attended as a guest in 2010, and the following year he starred in the trailer for the festival’s 46th edition. Nor was it the first time at the festival for Firebrand’s director Karim Aïnouz, who had previously visited Karlovy Vary in 2019 to present his film The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão.
