This week the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced KVIFF 54 1⁄2, a special four-day event that will be held this November in lieu of this year’s postponed program.
It was announced in April that the largest film festival in the Czech Republic would take place in July of 2021 due to concerns over the global pandemic. Luckily, fans won’t have to wait much longer, the festival’s programming team has selected a handful of films to screen in July and November of 2020.
July 3rd marked the launch of KVIFF at Your Cinema; the program will feature 16 films that will screen at 96 Czech movie theaters through July 11th.
KVIFF at Your Cinema was our immediate response to the situation, one that allowed us to offer our viewers interesting movies that we’d chosen for the festival . . . we believe that the time is soon coming when we can be together again.”
Jiří Bartoška, KVIFF President
Before the opening film, Babyteeth (Friday, July 3rd at 8 pm), the festival’s president Jiří Bartoška and master of ceremonies Marek Eben hosted a special opening ceremony broadcasted to all cinema audiences thanks to a live feed from the Grand Hall at Karlovy Vary’s Hotel Thermal. In the spirit of the festival, the screenings will streamline introductions, live broadcast Q&As with directors, and in-person delegations of the KVIFF team at over 40 locations. Bartoška will greet audiences in person on Thursday, July 9th at Brno’s Kino Scala and on Friday, July 10th at Kino Dukla in Jihlava, before the program closes out on July 11th.
Karlovy Vary IFF 54 1⁄2 will take place November 18-21, 2020. The four-day noncompetitive fest will present 30 movies and the festival’s usual atmosphere the guests and visitors have grown to love. The KVIFF at Your Cinema program, a list of cinemas, and other organizational details can be found on the festival’s website.