{"id":2631,"date":"2026-06-27T06:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T06:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2631"},"modified":"2026-06-27T06:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T06:05:37","slug":"karlovy-vary-is-very-proud-to-be-the-worlds-second-oldest-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2631","title":{"rendered":"Karlovy Vary Is Very Proud to Be the World\u2019s Second-Oldest Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe spirit of V\u00e1clav Havel and Ji\u0159\u00ed Barto\u0161ka lives on at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival\u00a0(KVIFF), and attendees of the\u00a060th edition of the Czech fest will feel a sense of continuity and legacy, a reminder of the long history of the festival, along with innovations and updates that the team always looks to add regularly when it makes sense. <\/p>\n

Read more Appeals Court Orders Harvey Weinstein Resentencing, Though Conviction Stands<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tIn fact, Kry\u0161tof Mucha, who joined the festival team in 1997, became its executive director in 2004 and has added the role of chairman of the board of the KVIFF Group, says for him and his colleagues, it is all about connecting the past and the future. This mix of looking back into history and paving the way into the future will also be a central theme of this year\u2019s double anniversary edition of KVIFF, given that the fest was launched 80 years ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tIndeed, one of the oldest film festivals in the world, Karlovy Vary was part of the so-called \u201cfirst wave\u201d of post-war European film festivals.\u00a0Its first edition was held in 1946 as a non-competitive event with 13 features, including international participation, organized by the spa towns of\u00a0Mari\u00e1nsk\u00e9\u00a0L\u00e1zn\u011b\u00a0and Karlovy Vary during the first half of August. <\/p>\n

\n\tOrganizers highlighted earlier this year that this first edition actually took place \u201cbefore the inaugural editions of the festivals in both Cannes and Locarno.\u201d The event was at first called the Czechoslovak Film Festival, and the first edition was actually held in Mari\u00e1nsk\u00e9 L\u00e1zne; then in Mari\u00e1nsk\u00e9 L\u00e1zne and Karlovy Vary; and later solely in Karlovy Vary. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Venice Film Festival is older, having been founded in 1932 and renewed in 1946, with its first post-war edition following KVIFF\u2019s inaugural edition. <\/p>\n

\n\tThat long history, with all its ups and downs, is something that Karlovy Vary will highlight in its double anniversary year. Two key figures have long been seen as ambassadors for the fest. They are long-time festival president Barto\u0161ka, who died last May after being the public face of KVIFF for more than three decades, and Havel, the author and former dissident-turned-Czech-president, who died in 2011, but was a key force behind the KVIFF scenes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor this year\u2019s anniversaries, we wanted to point to a few moments from the history of the festival, so there will be a big exhibition in the streets, like last year when we had an exhibition of photos of Mr. Barto\u0161ka,\u201d shares Mucha. \u201cSo we will feature the history of the festival, starting from 1946 until today. Also, 2026 is the Havel year, because he would be 90 this year. So we also want to remind people that V\u00e1clav Havel was one of our big supporters, so there will be a small presentation of photos of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAbout the importance of the politician and the actor-turned-festival-president for KVIFF, Mucha tells THR<\/em>: \u201cHavel was one of the key people in the new era of the festival, because Mr. Barto\u0161ka brought Milo\u0161 Forman to the festival, and Havel was a friend of Mr. Barto\u0161ka\u2019s. In those days, everybody was interested in meeting with V\u00e1clav Havel.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe story goes like this: Havel would tell people from the film world interested in meeting him that he would be in Karlovy Vary in July, and they should come there if they really wanted to get together with him. \u201cThat was the best support we could ever have,\u201d Mucha recalls. \u201cWhen I went to the United States, I was the one to prepare the invitation letters. And I went to Mr. Havel\u2019s office, and he was using these colored pens, green and red, and he would write: \u2018We will see each other in Karlovy Vary.\u2019 So I was using these invitation letters, and that really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe two famous names and their close relationship were pivotal when KVIFF fell upon hard times. In 1993, the government of the new Czech Republic withdrew financial support for many cultural events to focus them on becoming financially independent, putting KVIFF at risk. After a backlash, the Ministry of Culture convened a group of influential citizens to figure out a path forward. Barto\u0161ka and veteran film journalist Eva Zaoralov\u00e1 worked with the ministry, the city of Karlovy Vary and the historic Grand Hotel Pupp, which later became the inspiration for Wes Anderson\u2019s\u00a0Grand Budapest Hotel<\/em>, to establish the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 1995, Barto\u0161ka became the festival\u2019s president, Zaoralov\u00e1 its program director (a position she held until her death in 2022). Then the International Federation of Producers Associations revoked the fest\u2019s A-category status and transferred it to the new Golden Golem fest in Prague. But Havel came through. He declined to visit the Prague event, instead showing up on the opening night of KVIFF. From there, KVIFF evolved into today\u2019s haven for cinema fans and celebrities.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the history of KVIFF also extends well beyond Barto\u0161ka and Havel, \u201cwe are very proud of being the second-oldest film festival in the world,\u201d Mucha tells THR<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s only by a few days, because Locarno and Cannes came out a couple of days after us, but this is very important for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fact that this year marks KVIFF\u2019s 60th edition in its 80th year tends to confuse people. The reason was that during the time of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, the political leadership wanted to have an A-list film festival in Moscow, but also realized that there was already an existing fest in Karlovy Vary. \u201cSo they decided it would be biannual events, taking place every second year in Karlovy Vary and in Moscow,\u201d Mucha explains. <\/p>\n

\n\tSomething interesting happened when Barto\u0161ka died last year. \u201cA lot of people came to us and asked if he was the founder of the festival, and we realized that, even in this country, many people don\u2019t know about this incredible history of the festival and that it started in 1946,\u201d shares Mucha. \u201cSo we said, okay, we have to remind people of this and that they should be proud of something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKVIFF\u2019s lineup announcement this year also name-checked one of the festival\u2019s founders, long-time director of programming A. M. Brousil, who put an early focus on non-European cinema, opening selections beyond the region where the fest takes place. And Karlovy Vary proudly highlighted that its anniversary program features \u201cextraordinary geographical diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that\u2019s exactly where the past and future connect to keep KVIFF and its audiences and attendees energized. Concludes Mucha: \u201cWe have a film festival that survived the ugly [decades under Soviet domination 1948-1989] in this country. Our festival has a rich history, and we can and should be proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Vanderpump Rules\u2019 Alum Tom Sandoval Allegedly Pushes Ex-Girlfriend\u2019s Dad Into Fire Pit in New Video<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karlovy Vary, the Czech fest known as KVIFF, is proud to be the second-oldest film festival in the world, behind Venice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,945,1212,1213],"class_list":["post-2631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-international","tag-karlovy-vary-international-film-festival","tag-kviff","tag-kviff-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nKarlovy Vary Is Very Proud to Be the World\u2019s Second-Oldest Film Festival - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2631\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karlovy Vary Is Very Proud to Be the World\u2019s Second-Oldest Film Festival - 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