For the third year in a row, Prague’s Světozor Cinema offers a warm haven during the harsh winter with the KVIFF Classics showcase of cinematic gems – classic films that have not faded with time but have, in fact, gained in allure. This celebration of legendary films, a cooperative effort by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the National Film Archive, will take place from 16 to 18 January 2025. Over the course of three days, you can see seven outstanding, carefully selected films.
The third edition of KVIFF Classics is associated with important anniversaries: two actors and one director of the chosen films would have celebrated their 100th birthday in 2025: Paul Newman, who shines in the drama of The Verdict, on 26 January; director Robert Altman, whose Western McCabe & Mrs. Miller will be shown on the mini-festival’s second day, on 20 February; and Peter Sellers, who excels in Being There, on 8 September. But the other films included in January’s KVIFF Classics all have something special to offer as well: High and Low, an adaptation of an Ed McBain novel directed by Akira Kurosawa, stars Japan’s best-known actor, Toshiro Mifune; the film noir In a Lonely Place is one of Humphrey Bogart’s lesser-known films; Jean-Pierre Melville’s unusual war film Army of Shadows reminds us that next year marks eighty years since the end of the war; and KVIFF Classics will open with the premiere of a newly restored version of Calamity starring Bolek Polívka.
