Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled nearly 40 titles for its main program ahead of its 60th edition, set to take place in the Czech spa town in early July. Artistic director Karel Och said this year’s selection stands out for films that try to make sense of a world defined by political tension, social pressure and intimate human conflict, often linking personal struggles to broader public realities.
The Crystal Globe competition includes a wide range of world premieres from Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Among them is “3 Weeks After,” Serbian director Miroslav Terzić’s drama about high school students stranded on a school trip in Bulgaria after a bus breakdown, where tensions rise around a classmate’s suicide. Bulgarian filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov return with “Black Money for White,” a tragicomic story about a couple whose dream trip to St. Petersburg collapses after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the loss of their savings.
Other competition titles explore family, memory, grief and social systems. Šimon Holý’s “Chica Checa” follows a widowed village mail carrier searching for meaning after unexpected events bring her closer to her son. Colombian film “Five Years, Four Months” centers on a mother’s search for her missing son, reflecting the enduring pain caused by armed conflict. Valeria Sarmiento’s “Behind the Rain” examines childhood trauma and repression in Chile, while Danish debut “The Guest” turns a family celebration into a confrontation with the past.
The lineup also includes “A Happy Family,” a Swiss film based on a true story about a mother fighting to regain her children after they are placed in foster care, and “Hijamat,” a family drama about a man caught between his gay brother, his religious family and conflicting community pressures. “The Lion at My Back” brings together a young asylum-seeker from Senegal and a woman recovering from addiction, while Lebanese title “Pipes” follows a retired water worker trying to help a town facing a crisis as he grieves a friend’s unclear death.
Additional Crystal Globe films span topics such as reproductive rights in communist-era Czechoslovakia, women’s desire in Myanmar, road travel in Argentina, land exploitation in Cambodia, and love and loss in India. Several works blend fiction and documentary or use experimental forms to reflect on memory, social inequality and hidden forms of violence.
The Proxima Competition focuses on newer voices and bolder approaches. Highlights include “33 Steps,” a hybrid fiction-documentary about the long-term trauma caused by a racially motivated attack; “Truck Driver,” a reflective road movie about pauses and human connection; and “Against Nature,” a visually immersive Mexican drama about a man returning to work in a harsh rural landscape. Other Proxima titles explore inheritance, colonialism, addiction, romantic confusion, and life on the margins.
Special screenings feature documentaries and fiction films about Czech singer Bára Basiková, photographer and educator Petr Geisler, addiction and family bonds, Iranian artistic freedom, childhood grief, and the relationship between father and son. The special selection also includes works on documentary history, war trauma in Ukraine, and a playful adaptation of Thomas Mann.
The program reflects Karlovy Vary’s emphasis on socially engaged cinema, emotional storytelling and formally adventurous filmmaking.
