The expanded and broadened industry program of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has unveiled the 11 directors for the second edition of its KVIFF Central Stage showcase and eight titles for its inaugural Book-to-Screen program.
The 60th edition of the fest, taking place in the Czech spa town July 3-11, is doubling down on the Central-European co-production focus of its works-in-progress market KVIFF Promises. The 11 upcoming movies selected for KVIFF Central Stage, in partnership with eight national film institutes across the region, are “directed by established filmmakers with extensive festival pedigrees, including Nicolas Steiner, Antonio Lukich, Olga Chajdas or Cristina Groșan,” KVIFF said. “These films in the making, seeking co-production, financing, sales, distribution, and festival premiere opportunities, will be showcased during an interactive talk show” on the Film Industry Main Stage on Monday, July 6. The participating projects will also get access to exclusive post-production advantages through a partnership with studios UPP and Soundsquare and are alsieligible for the €20,000 ($23,185) Eurimages Co-Production Development Award. The literary works selected for the first-ever Book-to-Screen at KVIFF showcase, designed to create a market for film adaptation rights to original IP from Central and Eastern Europe and strengthen cooperation between the film and publishing industries. “The award-winning books, selected by an international jury for their strong cinematic potential,” will be presented to domestic and international producers in a talk show format moderated by Niki Théron of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday, July 7, KVIFF said. “For this first edition, we were delighted to receive more than 70 submissions from 14 countries,” said Théron. “Selecting just eight was a real challenge, but the final lineup now reflects the region’s diversity of countries, genres and themes, from historical epics and folk horror to children’s stories and bold contemporary voices.”In total, KVIFF Promises 2026 will present 38 projects across five programs to producers, sales companies, distributors, festival programmers, and other professionals seeking quality emerging films or works available for adaptation: They include 11 feature films in the KVIFF Central Stage program, nine treatments in the Works in Development – Feature Launch section, four in the Works in Development – Focus Queer section, six feature film or series projects in KVIFF Talents, and eight original literary IPs in Book-to-Screen at KVIFF. Details about all the showcases can be found on the KVIFF website or the Book of Projects.
