The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is not just a Czech celebration of cinema. It is a global affair. The fest in the Czech spa town regularly opens the doors of its cinemas and hotels and its audiences’ hearts to films from around the globe. This year’s 60th edition, in the fest’s 80th year of existence, is no different. In fact, artistic director Karel Och unveiled his team’s selection for the double anniversary edition by highlighting that the nearly 40 titles in the main program “boast extraordinary geographical diversity.”
And he highlighted: “The exclusive presence of Myanmar and Colombia in the Crystal Globe competition naturally connects across a six-decade arc with the progressive decision of one of the festival’s founders and long-time director of programming, A. M. Brousil, to focus intensively on the then-young and undiscovered non-European cinemas.”
Allowing audiences to see big stars from abroad or cinematically travel the globe and afterwards have discussions with the filmmakers requires special skills, of course. Interpreters who take the stage with creators from around the world during the festival facilitate those exchanges.
One face that regular KVIFF attendees will recognize is Helena Koutná, who can be seen handling many of the big interpretations across the festival days and nights, whether honors or post-screening Q&As, with aplomb – and a smile on her face. Whether it is interpreting Czech festival leaders’ comments about honorees or films into English, or English-speaking filmmakers’ thoughts into Czech, she is helping with making their voices heard.
