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Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2018

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2018

Official Selection - Competition

Programme

15 films · 5 reviews

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Brothers (Kardeşler)

Seventeen-year-old Yusuf comes home after spending four years at a detention center. His return to the family circle freshly recalls the act that his loved ones, bound by rigid tradition, forced Yusuf to commit.

(Country: Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria; Year: 2018; Director: Ömür Atay)

World premiere

Domestique (Domestik)

Top cyclist Roman has had enough of serving as a domestique, a bicycle racer who sacrifices for the team. But his obsession with his performance begins to take its toll on his marriage.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia; Year: 2018; Director: Adam Sedlák; Writer: Adam Sedlák; Stars: Tereza Hofová, Jirí Konvalinka, Miroslav Hanus, Tomás Bambusek, Tereza Hofová, Jirí Konvalinka, Miroslav Hanus, Tomás Bambusek)

World premiere

The Fireflies Are Gone (La disparition des lucioles)

Review preview for The Fireflies Are Gone

The film demands and receives a strong and forceful performance from Karelle Tremblay who is more than able to rise to the challenges.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
The sleepy town where Léo lives doesn’t offer her much chance of self-fulfilment. Extricating herself from her mother’s influence and her constricting environment isn’t easy for the frustrated young woman, yet happiness might be close at hand.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Sébastien Pilote; Writer: Sébastien Pilote; Stars: Pierre-Luc Brillant, Marie-France Marcotte, François Papineau, Luc Picard, Karelle Tremblay, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Marie-France Marcotte, François Papineau, Luc Picard, Karelle Tremblay)

World premiere

History Of Love (Zgodovina ljubezni)

Seventeen-year-old Iva is in the process of coming to terms with the death of her mother. Influenced by this deep personal loss and by the discovery that she didn’t know everything about her mum, the girl slowly immerses herself into a strange world.

(Country: Slovenia, Italy, Norway; Year: 2018; Director: Sonja Prosenc)

World premiere

"I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians" ("Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari")

A young artist is planning to reconstruct a historical event from 1941, during which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.

(Country: Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Radu Jude)

World premiere

Jumpman (Podbrosy)

Sixteen years later after leaving her son in a box, she steals him away from a children’s home, intent on making amends for her neglect... but he has a rare condition meaning he feels no pain.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Ivan I Tverdovskiy)

International premiere

Miriam Lies (Miriam miente)

Review preview for Miriam Lies

Both Rodriguez and Rohana deliver delicate, nuanced performances in a story that revolves in large part around friendship.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Shy girl Miriam is waiting to celebrate her 15th birthday and she wants to invite her guy. So far they’ve only chatted online, and the anticipated blind date only complicates things.

(Country: Dominican Republic, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Writer: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Stars: Frank Perozo, Margaux Da Silva, Roger Wasserman, Pachy Méndez, Georgina Duluc, Manuel Chapuseaux, Isabel Cristina Polanco, Uxio Lis, Cristobalina Morel, Cecile van Welie, Vicente Santos, Ana Maria Arias, Maria Castillo, Alexander Bergés, Carolina Rohana)

World premiere

My Friend 'A'

A new worker at a factory becomes convinced that one of his colleagues is a murderer.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2018; Director: Takahisa Zeze; Writer: Gaku Yakumaru; Stars: Tôma Ikuta, Eita, Mizuki Yamamoto, Kaho, Munetaka Aoki, Kanji Furutachi, Kôichi Satô, Shûgo Oshinari, Jun Murakami, Makiko Watanabe, Reiko Kataoka, Ken Mitsuishi, Naomi Nishida, Hôshi Ishida, Yasuko Tomita)

Out of competition

Panic Attack (Atak paniki)

Moments in the lives of several unfortunates living in contemporary Warsaw .

(Country: Poland; Year: 2017; Director: Pawel Maslona; Writer: Anna Gronowska, Bartlomiej Kotschedoff, Pawel Maslona, Aleksandra Pisula; Stars: Artur Zmijewski, Dorota Segda, Nicolas Bro, Magdalena Poplawska, Grzegorz Damiecki, Julia Wyszynska, Malgorzata Hajewska, Bartlomiej Kotschedoff, Aleksandra Adamska, Aleksandra Pisula, Justyna Kokot, Maria Kania, Daniel Guzdek, Andrzej Konopka, Adam Nawojczyk)

International premiere

Redemption (Guela)

A man who needs cash for his gravely ill daughter considers rejoining a rock band from his younger years but his decision causes conflict.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2018; Director: Joseph Madmony, Boaz Yehonatan Yaakov)

World premiere

Sueño Florianópolis (Florianopolis Dream)

Lucrecia, Pedro, and their teenage kids Julian and Florencia set out from Buenos Aires one sweltering day in a rattletrap Renault to vacation in the Brazilian summer resort of Florianópolis.

(Country: Argentina, Brazil, France; Year: 2018; Director: Ana Katz)

World premiere

Support The Girls

Review preview for Support The Girls

Hall makes you feel the constant battle between exhaustion, frustration, and compassion,

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
The wild story of one day at a traditional American sports bar.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Andrew Bujalski; Writer: Andrew Bujalski; Stars: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Shayna McHayle, Lea DeLaria, James Le Gros, Jana Kramer, Brooklyn Decker, Lawrence Varnado, David Bernon, Brian Bogart, Gerald Brodin, Chris V. Brown, John Bryant)

European premiere. Out of competition

To The Night

Review preview for To The Night

Brunner clearly loves Norman - art for art's sake! - but fails to communicate how others have come to tolerate him.

Amber Wilkinson · 1.5 out of 5
As a child Norman survived a fire that took the rest of his family. As an adult he is still struggling with the resulting trauma, and he finds it difficult to start a new life with his girlfriend and little boy.

(Country: Austria, US; Year: 2018; Director: Peter Brunner; Writer: Peter Brunner; Stars: Caleb Landry Jones, Eleonore Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Jana McKinnon, Christos Haas, Bodhi Mitchell, Hudson Mitchell, William L. Schaefer, Eleni Mitchell, Sam Stillman, Jon Konkol, Jimmy Rusty James, Leafy Wind Dragon, Vanessa Garcia, Miguel Andjular)

World premiere

Trash On Mars

A lonely robot is the only reminder of a plan to colonise Mars... until a privately funded crew arrive.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2018; Director: Benjamin Tucek; Writer: Benjamin Tucek)

Out of competition

Winter Flies (Všechno bude)

Review preview for Winter Flies

There's a refreshing lack of sentimentality in the way Omerzu captures his duo of protagonists.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Mischievously self-assured Mára and somewhat eccentric Heduš set out into the frozen wastes in search of adventure – by car, naturally. After all, Mára's turning 15 soon.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia; Year: 2018; Director: Olmo Omerzu; Writer: Petr Pýcha; Stars: Tomás Mrvík, Jan Frantisek Uher, Eliska Krenková, Lenka Vlasáková, Martin Pechlát, Tomás Mrvík, Jan Frantisek Uher, Eliska Krenková, Lenka Vlasáková, Martin Pechlát)

World premiere