60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Reveals Opening and Closing Films

The 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will open with The Match, an Argentinian-Spanish documentary directed by Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco, which chronicles the 1986 Football World Cup match between Argentina and England.

The festival will close with The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, a crime drama directed by Noah Segan, starring John Turturro as an old-school pickpocket.

The Match (El Partido) returns to 22 June 1986 in Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, at the start of the World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina. While almost the whole world is familiar with the goal of the century and Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God,” the real story behind the “match of the century” is even more dramatic. The Falklands War, national pride, political tensions, and the players’ lives all formed the backdrop to a game that inspires passionate debate to this day.

Forty years later, Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco’s documentary looks back on this historic match through a combination of archival footage and interviews with former players. This fascinating story of rivalry, memory, and reconciliation reminds us why, for ninety minutes, football is capable of capturing the whole world’s attention.

“One of the most captivating movies at this year’s Cannes proves that certain iconic moments from sports history can touch the very essence of human existence,” said Karel Och, KVIFF’s artistic director.

Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York follows Harry Lehman, who has lived as a pickpocket since the eighties. But New York has changed. Wallets filled with cash have been replaced by credit cards, people are constantly staring at their phones, and the old tricks no longer work. One day, when Harry steals a flash drive whose true value he is unaware of, he finds himself in a dangerous race against time and through the city’s streets.

Director Noah Segan has created a nostalgic portrait of a man living in a world he can no longer understand. His melancholy crime drama starring John Turturro is an homage to the old New York and a reflection on all the things that are disappearing in our digital age.