The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Taking place from 3–11 July 2026, the festival will once again showcase a strong Slovak presence.
The main Crystal Globe Competition will bring the long-awaited new feature by Ivan Ostrochovský – Only Beautiful Things to Look At (prod. Punkchart Films). Set within the Czechoslovak healthcare system of the 1980s, the drama stars Aňa Geislerová in the leading role of a doctor. A Slovak co-production Chica Checa (dir. Šimon Holý, SK co-prod. ARINAFILM) will also compete for the Crystal Globe.
Martina Buchelová’s feature debut Lover, Not a Fighter (prod. NINJA FILM) has been selected for the Proxima Competition. More about the film, which transports viewers into a teenage summer, can be found in our interview with the directress. Joining the Proxima line-up is 33 Steps, a thriller from directing duo Anna & Šimon Domček, produced by Ivan Ostrochovský (prod. escadra). More information about the film in our interview with the debuting authors.
Karlovy Vary will also host the second premiere of an authorial work by Ivan Ostrochovský – Igor and After (prod. Punkchart Films). The film, dedicated to the exceptional Slovak cinematographer Igor Luther, will premiere in the Special Screenings – Classics section. More information can be found in the interview with Ivan Ostrochovský.
In the Out of the Past – KVIFF 60/80 section, the festival will screen Birds, Orphans and Fools (dir. Juraj Jakubisko, 1969), on which Luther worked as DoP and which received the FIPRESCI Prize in Karlovy Vary in 1990. Magda Vášáryová, the protagonist of one of the main characters of this féerie, will receive the President’s Award at the festival
Five Slovak co-productions will receive Special Screenings at this year’s festival: the documentary To Die to Live (dir. Yuliia Hontaruk, SK co-prod. Silverart), exploring the lives of Ukrainian war veterans; the biographical portrait The Pint of Ink, in which director Ester Geislerová traces the life and legacy of her father (SK co-prod. PubRes); drama The Cursed Warrior (dir. Vojtěch Frič, Tomáš Dianiška, SK co-prod. B Production) starring Milan Ondrík in the lead role; the fiction film City of Fathers (dir. Zdeněk Tyc, SK co-prod. ARTILERIA); and the acclaimed documentary If Pigeons Turned to Gold (dir. Pepa Lubojacki, SK co-prod. guča films), which won the Best Documentary Award at this year’s Berlinale. An interview with the film’s Slovak co-producer Matej Sotník is available here.
Guča films is also the co-producer behind Orla, a short rap eco-feminist fairytale that premiered earlier this year at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Its director, Marie Lukáčová, has been selected among this year’s ten Future Frames participants, a programme organised by European Film Promotion for emerging filmmakers.
Last year, the KVIFF Industry Days platform introduced a new format – KVIFF Central Stage, which aimes to connect established filmmakers from Central Europe. The initiative was created in cooperation with the national film institutes of the region, including the Slovak Film Institute. Slovakia will be represented by Michal Blaško’s project Cowgirl (prod. nutprodukcia), which is currently in post-production, and a minority The Stones Are Rolling to Prague (dir. Tomáš Hodan, SK co-prod. B Production), which is in development. This year, we can also look forward to the new Book-to-Screen at KVIFF platform, where Daniel Majling will present his novel The Zone (published by BRaK).
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Representatives of the Slovak Film Institute and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund attending the festival:
Peter Dubecký (General Director of the SFI): 5–10 July
Rastislav Steranka (Director of the NCC SFI): 5–10 July
Veronika Krejčová (Festival Dpt. of the NCC SFI): 5–8 July
Vladimír Burianek (Director of the SAF): 5–8 July
Zuzana Bieliková (Slovak Film Commission, SAF): 4–7 July
For more information, please see the Catalogue of Films and the Industry programme website.
