Skip to main content

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2016

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2016

Another View

Programme

24 films · 9 reviews

Jump to a film

Aloys

Review preview for Aloys

Nölle's greatest achievement is to keep the magic realist realm firmly anchored to the real so that reality feels touched by imagination rather than smothered by it.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A private investigator is drawn into a mind game by a mysterious woman.

(Country: Switzerland, France; Year: 2016; Director: Tobias Nölle; Writer: Tobias Nölle; Stars: Georg Friedrich, Tilde von Overbeck, Kamil Krejcí, Yufei Li, Koi Lee, Sebastian Krähenbühl, Karl Friedrich, Peter Zumstein, Agnes Lampkin, Rahel Hubacher, Haroldo Simao, Tobias Bienz, Aaron Hitz, Barblin Leggio-Hänseler, Benjamin Merz)

Full review

Barash

Naama Barash, 17, enjoys alcohol, drugs and hanging out with like-minded friends. Her activities are an escape from a home where her parents always fight, and a rebellious, army-enrolled sister, who, one day, disappears. As a new girl shows up at school, Barash falls deep in love for the first time, and the intensity of the experience at once confuses her and gives her life new meaning.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2015; Director: Michal Vinik)

Communication & Lies (So-tong-gwa geo-jit-mal)

Character study focuses on a man and a woman trying to come to terms with hardship in differing extreme situations.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2015; Director: Seung-won Lee; Writer: Seung-won Lee; Stars: Sun Jang, Kwon-hoo Kim, Seon-young Kim)

Divines

Review preview for Divines

If this gang of ideas doesn’t quite hang together as it should, Benyamina still makes her mark with some brilliant moments.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Story of an Arabic drug dealer in a Parisian ghetto.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Houda Benyamina; Writer: Houda Benyamina, Romain Compingt, Malik Rumeau; Stars: Oulaya Amamra, Déborah Lukumuena, Kevin Mischel, Jisca Kalvanda, Yasin Houicha, Majdouline Idrissi, Bass Dhem)

Full review

Exile

A meditation on exile.

(Year: 2016; Director: Rithy Panh)

The First, The Last (Les premiers les derniers)

Two bounty hunters encounter two cowboys in the French countryside.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Bouli Lanners; Writer: Bouli Lanners; Stars: Albert Dupontel, Bouli Lanners, Suzanne Clément, Michael Lonsdale, David Murgia, Aurore Broutin, Philippe Rebbot, Serge Riaboukine, Lionel Abelanski, Virgile Bramly, Max von Sydow, Fabrice Adde, Pascale Wouters, Sybille Blouin, Loredana Flori)

Galloping Mind

Twin babies separated at birth and brought up in very different circumstances meet again 12 years later.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2015; Director: Wim Vandekeybus; Writer: Wim Vandekeybus; Stars: Zsófia Rea, Matt Devere, Natali Broods, Rebeka Rea, Izabella Rea, Jerry Killick, Levko Esztella, Orsi Tóth)

The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki (Hymyilävi Mies)

Review preview for The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki

Kuosmanen constantly shifts perspective, asking us to view the situation from a different angle - and another place of emotional truth.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Finland, 1962. Boxer Olli Mäki is 26 years old and in love. Expected to win a bout against an American, but he would rather be with his girlfriend than train.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2016; Director: Juho Kuosmanen; Writer: Juho Kuosmanen, Mikko Myllylahti; Stars: Eero Milonoff, Joonas Saartamo, Oona Airola, Jarkko Lahti, Marko Wilskman, Juha Mäkinen, Tuomo Kemppainen, John Bosco Jr.)

Full review See: Karlovy Vary Festival report

Island City

Three stories set in Mumbai.

(Country: India; Year: 2015; Director: Ruchika Oberoi; Writer: Ruchika Oberoi; Stars: Vinay Pathak, Amruta Subhash, Tanishta Chatterjee)

Kaili Blues (Lu bian ye can)

Review preview for Kaili Blues

A breathtaking piece of work.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
An ex-con doctor embarks on a mystical quest after his nephew vanishes.

(Country: China; Year: 2015; Director: Bi Gan; Writer: Bi Gan; Stars: Yongzhong Chen, Yue Guo, Linyan Liu, Feiyang Luo, Lixun Xie, Zhuohua Yang, Shixue Yu, Daqing Zhao)

Full review

Lantouri

Fictional documentary hinging on the problems faced by Iran's young populace.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2016; Director: Reza Dormishian; Writer: Reza Dormishian; Stars: Baran Kosari, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Maryam Palizban, Reza Behbudi, Mehdi Koushki, Behnaz Jafari, Fatemeh Naghavi, Parivash Nazarieh, Nader Fallah, Ardeshir Rostami, Hossein Pakdel, Behrang Alavi, Setareh Pesyani, Bahram Afshari, Siavash Cheraghipoor)

Lost And Beautiful (Bella E Perduta)

Review preview for Lost And Beautiful

Lost And Beautiful is filmed on expired 16mm film stock, in keeping with its themes, and the result is a delicate, watery palette which gives it a unique beauty.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary and fiction blend in a tale of ancient palaces, devoted shepherds and a young calf contemplating his fate.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2015; Director: Pietro Marcello; Writer: Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello; Stars: Elio Germano, Gesuino Pittalis, Sergio Vitolo, Tommaso Cestrone)

Full review

A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery (Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis)

The story of revolutionary Andres Bonifacio and his fight against Spanish colonial rule.

(Country: Philippines, Singapore; Year: 2016; Director: Lav Diaz; Stars: Piolo Pascual, John Lloyd Cruz, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra De Rossi, Joel Saracho)

The Lure

Review preview for The Lure

At the midway point, the screenplay begins to flap about all over the place but Smoczynska's firm, high-energy directing - including an extras-laden shopping centre extravaganza - doesn't stop to let you consider them for too long.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A pair of mermaid sisters run into trouble when one of them falls for a human.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2016; Director: Agnieszka Smoczynska; Writer: Robert Bolesto; Stars: Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Jakub Gierszal, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, Zygmunt Malanowicz)

Full review

Mimosas

Review preview for Mimosas

Mauro Herce's cinematography is stunning and merges perfectly with the soundscape created by Emilio García Rivas.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Faust meets Arabic myth in the Moroccan desert.

(Country: France, Spain, Morocco; Year: 2016; Director: Oliver Laxe; Writer: Oliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol ; Stars: Abdelatif Hwidar, Ilham Oujri, Shakib Ben Omar, Ahmed Hammoud, Hamid Farjad, Said Agli, Margarita Albores, Laaziza Ikram, Moe Mohamed Oummad, Ahmed El Othmani)

Full review See: Interview with Oliver Laxe about Mimosas

Motherland (Ana Yurdu)

Nesrin, an urban middle class woman recovering from a divorce, goes back to her deceased grandmother’​s​ old village in Anatolia to finish a novel and live out her dream of being a writer. Trouble brews when her mum turns up.

(Country: Turkey, Greece; Year: 2015; Director: Senem Tüzen; Writer: Senem Tüzen; Stars: Esra Bezen Bilgin, Nihal G. Koldas, Semih Aydin, Fatma Kisa)

One Week And A Day

In the span of a day, a grieving father steals medicinal marijuana from a hospice, skips work and hangs out with his estranged neighbor's son while his wife tries to get back to her daily routine as she fights off school teachers, stray kittens and dental clinic workers.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2016; Director: Asaph Polonsky; Writer: Asaph Polonsky; Stars: Uri Gavriel, Tomer Kapon, Jenya Dodina, Shai Avivi, Sharon Alexander, Carmit Mesilati Kaplan)

Oscuro Animal

The story of three women forced to flee their homes in a war torn region in Colombia.

(Country: Argentina, Greece, Colombia; Year: 2016; Director: Felipe Guerrero; Stars: Marleyda Soto, Luisa Vides Galiano, Jocelyn Meneses)

Sand Storm

Review preview for Sand Storm

Our sympathies are torn and turned on a dime.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young woman struggles to cope with the expectations of tradition.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2016; Director: Elite Zexer; Writer: Elite Zexer; Stars: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Hitham Omari, Jalal Masrwa, Khadija Al Akel)

Full review

The Student (Uchenik)

Review preview for The Student

Kirill Serebrennikov takes a fearless approach to filmmaking, unafraid of blending intellectual ideas with realistic settings.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A teenager becomes a religious zealot and mounts a campaign against his biology teacher.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2016; Director: Kirill Serebrennikov; Writer: Kirill Serebrennikov, based on the play by Marius von Mayenburg; Stars: Yuliya Aug, Viktoriya Isakova, Pyotr Skvortsov, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Aleksandra Revenko)

Full review

Tramontane

A young blind man is forced to make a road trip after discovering his ID document is a forgery.

(Country: France, Lebanon; Year: 2016; Director: Vatche Boulghourjian; Writer: Vatche Boulghourjian; Stars: Barakat Jabbour, Julia Kassar, Odette Makhlouf, Michel Adabachi, Toufic Barakat, Sajed Amer, Nassim Khodr, Raymond Haddouni, Georges Diab, Abido Bacha)

Underground Fragrance

A young migrant worker is temporarily blinded and meets another migrant in this drama exploring the "Chinese dream".

(Country: France, China; Year: 2015; Director: Pengfei; Writer: Pengfei, Isabelle Mayor; Stars: Ying Ze, Luo Wenjie, Zhao Fuyu)

Wolf And Sheep

Story of Afghan shepherds set against the backdrop of war.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2016; Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat)

You'll Never Be Alone (Nunca vas a estar solo)

While a resigned father works in the same job he’s had for the past 25 years, his adolescent son is completely immersed in his own world, exploring his gay identity.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Alex Anwandter; Writer: Alex Anwandter; Stars: Sergio Hernández, Andrew Bargsted, Jaime Leiva, Antonia Zegers, Benjamin Westfall, Gabriela Hernández, Edgardo Bruna, Astrid Roldan, Camila Hirane)