Karlovy Vary IFF's East of the West seeks new talent

by Viktor Palák

05/06/2012 - Apart from the main Competition, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced the titles selected for the Documentary Competition, Forum of Independents and East of the West. The latter section of the festival underwent a significant change and now focuses on and premieres first and second films by filmmakers from the region.

East of the West will officially open with the Slovak-Czech drama The Town of Ash by Iveta Grofová and will also screen Czech Lion winner for Best Film The Flower Buds by Zdenek Jirasky. Sara Cserhalmi will show her first film, Dear Betrayed Friend starring both her father György and János Derzsi, from Béla Tarr´s recent The Turin Horse [trailer, film focus].

While Hungary will also be represented by The Exam, a thriller following the secret police after 1956, two Polish films were also selected. Shameless focuses on a forbidden relationship, while Yuma returns to the chaotic times after the Iron Curtain fell, using witty genre allusions. Other entries in the section include those from Romania, Ukraine and Serbia.

The festival has also announced 12 films for the Forum of Independents and titles for the Documentary Competition. Violin virtuoso Julian Rachlin will present the mockumentary Noseland, while American producer Adele Romanski (The Myth of an American Sleepover) debuts as a director with the film Leave Me Like You Found Me. The films will be accompanied in the Forum of Independents by works from Hong Kong, Canada, Italy or Germany.

For a full lineup of the competitions, go to http://www.kviff.com/en/news/. The festival, which has previously announced not only the presence of Dame Helen Mirren, but also retrospectives of Reha Erdem, J. P. Melville and Michelangelo Antonioni's documentaries, starts on June 29.