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Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2017

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2017

Special Events

Programme

7 films · 4 reviews

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Arrival

Review preview for Arrival

Denis Villeneuve's latest film may be about aliens visiting Earth but it's the people who hold his interest.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A linguist is given the task of helping to communicate with extra-terrestrial beings when they touch down around the globe.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Denis Villeneuve; Writer: Eric Heisserer, based on the short story by Ted Chiang; Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nathaly Thibault, Mark O'Brien, Tzi Ma, Leisa Reid, Abigail Pniowsky, Julia Scarlett Dan, Ruth Chiang, Frank Fiola, Julian Casey, Russell Yuen, Max Walker)

Full review

The Big Sick

Review preview for The Big Sick

Each of the characters here, presumably because they are rooted in truth, is given room to breathe and shows an ability to be changed by circumstance.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A couple struggle to maintain their culture-clash relationship... and then one of them falls ill.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Showalter; Writer: Emily V Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani; Stars: Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan, Kumail Nanjiani, Ray Romano, Celeste Arias, Vella Lovell, Matty Cardarople, Bo Burnham, Adeel Akhtar, Linda Emond, Shenaz Treasurywala, Anupam Kher, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Rebecca Naomi Jones) , Trailer

Full review

A Ghost Story

Review preview for A Ghost Story

Reveals just enough in the sparse dialogue and long silences to keep us intrigued.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
This is the story of a ghost and the house he haunts.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: David Lowery; Writer: David Lowery; Stars: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Rob Zabrecky, Will Oldham, Liz Franke, Sonia Acevedo)

Full review See: Interview with Casey Affleck about A Ghost Story

Growroom (Pěstírna)

Ondřej owes half a million crowns, and a three-month stint in an illegal underground cannabis growroom is the only way he’ll be able to pay back the money.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2017; Director: Andy Fehu; Stars: Martin Bao, Judit Bárdos, Milan Cyron, Hany-Huong Thanh Duong, Martin Hub, Karel Hung, Michal Isteník, Vojtech Johaník, Leos Noha, Jirí Panzner, Martin Procházka, Václav Vokál, Jirí Vyorálek, Zdenek Vévoda)

I Am Heath Ledger

Friends and family of the late actor remember his life and career.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Adrian Buitenhuis, Derik Murray; Writer: Hart Snider; Stars: Heath Ledger, Ang Lee, Ashleigh Bell, Ben Harper, Ben Mendelsohn, Carlos Nino, Catherine Hardwicke, Christina Cauchi, Djimon Hounsou, Edward Lachman, Emile Hirsch, Gerry Grennell, Justin Vernon, Kane Manera, Kate Ledger)

Who Wants To Kill Jessie? (Kdo chce zabít Jessii?)

Superheroes from Kája Saudek’s comic-book illustrations come to life in a comedy that still charms audiences fifty years after it first hit the big screen.

(Country: Czechoslovakia; Year: 1966; Director: Václav Vorlícek; Writer: Milos Macourek, Václav Vorlícek; Stars: Dana Medrická, Jirí Sovák, Olga Schoberová, Juraj Visny, Karel Effa, Vladimír Mensík, Karel Houska, Ilja Racek, Walter Taub, Bedrich Prokos, Cestmír Randa, Otto Simánek, Svatopluk Skládal, Frantisek Holar, Jan Libícek)

Wind River

Review preview for Wind River

The film is well-served by its genre action sequences but it's the traces of grief that linger longest, like footsteps in the snow.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An FBI agent teams with the town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.

(Country: US, UK, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Taylor Sheridan; Writer: Taylor Sheridan; Stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Jon Bernthal, Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones, Teo Briones, Martin Sensmeier, Ian Bohen, Kelsey Asbille, Matthew Del Negro, Eric Lange, Hugh Dillon, James Jordan, Mason D. Davis, Tara Karsian)

Full review