GUY LODGE FILM CRITIC,VARIETY

WHEN IN DOUBT, TIME TO PASS

One of the reasons I so enjoy KarlovyVary is that the breadth and range of theprogramming allows me not just to makefresh discoveries, but to catch up with in-triguing titles that I’ve missed elsewhereon the festival circuit. The film I regretnot seeing at Sundance this year wasAlexandre O. Philippe’s 78/52, whichI'm told is an ingenious and playful documentary examination of one of cinema’s most literally and figurativelybreathtaking moments – the showerscene in Psycho. I’m a geek for bothclassic Hollywood lore and postmoderncinema analysis, and Philippe’s previous,inventive films in this domain – notablyhis witty, informative zombie-movie trib-ute Doc of the Dead – have me excitedto see what fresh angle he has on themaster of suspense. (MS)

78/52 screens today at 9:30pm [ČasCinema], July 4 at 11pm [Grand Hall] andJuly 7 at 10pm [Karlovy Vary MunicipalTheatre] z

EXPLAINERSEE YOU THERE

Casey Affleck says working in new cities and new places keeps him from getting too stale and too boring.

by Veronika Bednářová

Four close colleagues are behind thestrange and touching non-horror film,A Ghost Story, which opens in cinemasthis week, following up a successful pre-miere at Sundance this year: actor CaseyAffleck, writer/director David Lowery andproducers James M. Johnston and TobyHalbrooks. They will screen the film,which co-stars Rooney Mara, at KVIFF,which also follows up a team project withthe same players, Ain’t Them BodiesSaints, which screened here in 2013. Theteam’s next project, Old Man and the Gunwith Robert Redford and Elisabeth Moss,has just finished filming.

So you’ve formed a stable collabora-tion, working together regularly. Howdoes that work for everyone?

I like that vocabulary. It’s a stable col-laboration. We’ve done three movies to-gether and with Toby and James as well, soit’s a fairly stable collaboration with all ofus. It’s nice to work with friends. You don’talways get that opportunity because you

travel so much and you meet new peoplealways. That makes it sometimes an addedchallenge to make a new movie becauseyou have to develop some sort of rapportwith people and the shorthand, you gottatry to learn what the other person meansand when they want something.

And there’s a stronger bond with youguys than just a professional relation-ship?

So I get the chance to work with friendsbut also I think there’s a shared sensibilitysomehow with this group. I like the moviesthat they do and the things that they’vedone. And I’ve liked everything that I’vegotten to be a part of – not that that was themost important part, I would say, but it’sa bonus when you have a great experience.And then you also feel like the thing thathas been made is something you’re proudof. I’m always proud when I’m a part ofsomething that they’re working on.

What’s David Lowery like as a direc-tor? Is he strict?

No, he’s not. He communicates clearly

what he wants and has a vision going intoit but he’s also very flexible and open to in-put from anybody from costumes or Davidor James or me or the other actors. I’venever seen him be strict at all. SometimesI wish he were stricter - you give a bunch ofideas to a director and you hope they’re go-ing to say ‘No that’s bad’ because in yourheart you know that what you’re saying isa bad idea.

Do you have a say in the script devel-opment part?

Not really. Let’s say that this movie wasthe most unformed piece of material.Otherwise, they’re very traditional screen-plays that David gave to me that he’d writ-ten and he has his own unique voice that ison the page and the scenes seem to workthe best when you stick with his voice.

But A Ghost Story was something thatwas more experimental in that sense.There was less dialogue and more de-scription of what this thing is going to be.So that was the only time I’ve had any in-put, really, on what the characters are re-ally saying.

And when the screenplay is less fullyformed in a way, what is it about for you,really?

What the movie was about for me wasnot evident when I first read it. WhenDavid described it to me it just soundedlike a strange and beautiful experiment thatwas mostly visual. Like, ‘Oh, you’ll bewearing a sheet and we’re shooting in onelocation.’ It was all kind of like what it wasgoing to look like and there was some kindof conversation about the relationship be-tween me and Rooney. You’re trying to fig-ure out if you stay in the house or not.

So do you prefer not to work with peo-ple you haven’t formed relationshipswith yet?

I love meeting new people. One of thethings that people who work in movies willtell you is that it’s one of the best parts ofthe job that you go on to new cities andnew places and new crews and you learnfrom other people, the DP, everyone on thecrew. It kind of keeps you from getting toostale or from getting too boring. On theother hand I think there are people who

work with the same people over and overagain and the work keeps getting strongerand better. Time goes by faster and faster –I’m getting old so fast. It’s really nice tospend time with people you already likeand know. You have some shared interests.If you find people you work well with youmight as well keep working with them.

Is it different being on the road to pro-mote a film you are personally investedin rather than, say, a blockbuster?

I don’t ever think of a movie as beingmine. If it belongs to anyone it belongs tothe director. Once you’re a part of themovie in any way then you go out and youhelp to advertise it. There are somemovies – because of the kind of audiencethey’re going for or the kind of moneythat’s being spent to promote them – thereisn’t a lot of promotion (for the actor) thatgoes into it. So you go to a few film festi-vals and you go on a talk show and that’sall that’s asked of you. And then there areother times when the movie is in theatersfor six months and you still have to go outthere and promote it endlessly. z

SPECIAL EDITION OF

KVIFF’s MAIN MEDIA PARTNER

A GHOST STORY: STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL CASEY AFFLECK LIKES THE SHARED SENSIBILITY OF WORKING WITH FRIENDS

Fest fanfare, sheer spectacle, free film-maker KVIFF Talks and late, late bars arealmost enough to justify a summer trip tobustling Karlovy Vary in themselves. Yetsome determined cinema geeks still insiston seeing actual movies.For this last groupof stubborn holdouts, navigating the festticketing system is going to be key.

One might assume it’s a straightforwardprocess of walking up to a sales booth, al-so known as the pokladna, and asking fora ticket 15 minutes before your film starts.But that way lies madness and melan-choly, dear readers (though also a great ex-cuse for ordering another round at the FBar terrace). KVIFF veterans know thatmost tickets go on sale the day beforea screening – no earlier – and tend to dis-appear by 9am.

That applies whether you’re just buyinga single ticket for 80 CZK, which is sim-ple enough to do if your timing is right or

you have a buddy who is already at the festthe day before you arrive.

But a cooler way to go is the KVIFFpass, easily scored for 250 CZK for a day,600 CZK for three or 850 CZK for fivedays, which not only forms a groovy sou-venir of your summer of onscreen love butalso entitles you to lots of useful add-ons.

You get admission to three films perday – that’s separate films, not three peo-

ple at one – and pass holders can reservetickets for many screenings via SMS start-ing at 7am.

The fest pass also means you can claimany seats still free five minutes beforea screening starts – which works wellwhen other folk aren’t quick enough to es-cape their round at F Bar (if a ticket hold-er is not in their seat by that time, the festis entitled to give it away).

You can also book tickets online if youregister and get a PIN, of course, but onlyten percent of the screenings have ticketsavailable this way. If you do go this route,you can buy two tickets per film, though.

Finally, a proven old school method isto check on the bulletin board in thebreezeway of the Hotel Thermal, near thefestival cars drop-off point. People postnotes when they have extra tickets theywon’t be using and some surprisinglygreat offers do appear there. z (WT)

INSIDE

Official Selection:Arrhythmia, Men Don’t Cry

English Section, page 2

East of The West: ThisYear’s Competition (Part I)

English Section, page 3

Japanese Master: Tributeto Kenji Mizoguchi

English Section, page 4

21/7 2017

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strana 2 / page 2 FESTIVAL DAILY Saturday, July 1, 2017

by Michael Stein

In Bosnian director AlenDrljević’s debut feature MenDon’t Cry, a group of traumatizedveterans from the various oppos-ing sides of the war in formerYugoslavia are brought together toa mountain resort to face theirdemons and each other. Even get-ting Serbs, Croats, Bosnians ina room together is challengeenough, but getting them to per-form therapeutic exercises pre-tending to be animals and openingup about what they did in the warproves to be a contentious task forthe group leader skillfully playedby Sebastian Cavazza.

Director Alen Drljević says thefilm was originally inspired bythe work of one of the organiza-tions that work with veterans inthe former Yugoslavia: “It’s thevery strong opinion of psychia-trists who treat veterans withPTSD that meeting former ene-mies is the best way of dealingwith the trauma.”

Drljević’s background is pri-marily in documentary filmmak-ing and his initial intention was to

make a documentary about thistherapeutic process, but as heworked on the film idea he real-ized that he had a strong story thatdeserved fuller treatment. Notthat he abandoned the film's doc-umentary roots. “I have somenon-actors, veterans, that playroles in the group. Also some ofthe main actors have experiencesin the war, they were soldiers,” hesays.

There is an unscripted, impro-visatory and unpredictable feelthat comes through in the shoot-ing which gives both the therapyand certain dramatic scenes anadded intensity. According toDrljević, this was highly inten-tional. “We tried to put the docu-mentary style in the filmmaking,”he says. “I let the actors impro-vise. We had a basic idea but welet the actors take it and we fol-lowed them.”

The film centers on the rela-tionship between a deeply am-bivalent Serb, played brilliantlyby Boris Isaković, and his nearmirror image Croat, played witha brooding intensity by LeonLučev. A triangle is formed by

a pious Bosnian Muslim witha seemingly endless well of pa-tience and forgiveness played byEmir Hadžihafizbegović. Eachveteran in the group though addsa strong personality and their ownwounds from the war, their ownanimosity and distrust, and whatbecomes clear as they work outtheir pain is that their anger isn'tjust directed towards the othersides in the conflict, but ofteneven more so towards their ownsides, their own families and to-wards themselves.

Drljević is looking forward tothe film’s release in the countriesof former Yugoslavia. “A lot ofpeople are still dealing with thesewar issues,” he says. “We neverreally dealt with the past. I thinkwe need to talk about it to under-stand the motivation of others.”For Drljević it isn’t only a ques-tion of silence but an unwilling-ness to talk about the war at theright time and in the right way,particularly by politicians, whouse it to their own ends. “We don’tface real problems, like povertyand corruption,” he says. “We al-ways go back to war issues.” z

MEN DON’T CRY – COMING TO GRIPSWITH VETERANS’ PAIN ON THE SCREEN

OFFICIAL SELECTION

In Men Don’t Cry veterans of the war in former Yugoslavia find themselves on a journey toward forgiveness.

by Cerise Howard

Arrhythmia director and co-writer Boris Khlebnikov is nostranger to Karlovy Vary, on thecontrary. KVIFF helped launchhis career when his co-directedfeature debut Roads to Koktebelwas a joint winner of the PhilipMorris Award at KVIFF 2003.

Now an established, originalforce in contemporary Russiancinema, Khlebnikov’s latest fea-ture might, on the face of it, beara timeworn premise – that thosewho are charged with tending tothe wellbeing of others are oftentheir own worst patients. ButArrythmia is just as interested inprobing a shift towards clinicalindifference in the middle man-agement of the Russian health bu-reaucracy as it is in presentinga compelling character study ofa married couple of late twenty-somethings whose chemistry isappreciable, no less than theirgrinding frustration with one an-other’s foibles.

Thus, the rotting marriage oftwo health professionals in a mid-size city in current day Russia

(Yaroslavl) serves in microcosmas an allegory for a crisis in thehealth system that tenuously em-ploys them.

Both medicos deal with mattersof life and death – Oleg(Khlebnikov regular AlexanderYatsenko) is on the frontline ofemergency response as a para-medic, while Katya (IrinaGorbacheva) is a doctor attendingto patients in a hospital casualtyward, often rushed there by hervexatious husband.

Oleg’s every day on the job isan endurance test of tragicomicproportions. Highly irascible, henonetheless has the best interestsof his patients at heart, even if hewill resort to unorthodox meansto ensure they receive the treat-ment they urgently need, or tofobbing off an elderly nuisancecaller with a little snake oil anda humorous choice of placebo.

Khlebnikov – together with the script co-writer, NataliaMeschaninova – had the idea ofcreating a character who is ex-tremely weak and immature in hispersonal life, at the level of a 12-year-old.

“At the same time, in his pro-fessional life we wanted Oleg tobe very ‘adult’, confident and pre-cise, as if he’s spent more years inthe profession than he really has,”Khlebnikov says. “We wanted tomake him full of contradictions.”

Correspondingly, for all the re-sponsibility he assumes to ensurepeople don’t die on his watch, of-ten in defiance of inflexibleclockwatching instructions fromabove, Oleg spends the bulk ofhis downtime exasperating Katya,whose patience with hisoverindulgence in alcohol andcloying entreaties not to divorcehim wear thin – and betray a mer-curial brittleness of her own.

One might surmise then thatthe real premise in this arrestingnew film is that, for all the com-petence and dedication possessedby professionals operating withinthe Russian health system, ad-ministrative incompetence andregimented detachment from “thehuman factor” are pervasiveblights ever threatening to topplewhat matters most: quality of hu-man life and connection. In otherwords, the human factor itself. z

ARRHYTHMIA – IRREGULAR HEARTBEATS IN RUSSIA’S BODY POLITIC

OFFICIAL SELECTION

by Pavla Horáková

As you know from the first in-stallment of our new regular sec-tion focusing on the town’s eeriespots, even a spa town dedicatedto curing the sick hasn’t been im-mune to disease and death.Today’s mystery spot will pleasetaphophiles, that is, people inter-ested in cemeteries and the like.A reminder for us, the living, toseize the day while we can. Andincidentally, since we are runningthis competition for tickets, whynot do it in the cinema?

There is no cure for death andeven all the local thermal springscombined do not amount to animmortality potion. Thus a worldfamous spa town, too, regularlysaw its visitors, doctors as well asvenerable citizens, take one forthe team.

For a couple centuries, KarlovyVary’s deceased found their finalresting place in St. Andrew’sgraveyard on the hillside not farfrom today’s Thermal hotel. Thecemetery was eventually aban-doned and turned into a publicpark in 1913. Only a few scat-

tered tombstones now reveal itsformer purpose. The most promi-nent among them is the renovat-ed headstone of Franz XaverMozart, the son of none otherthan the great Wolfgang Amadeushimself.

The great composer’s sixthchild, Franz Xaver was born inVienna in 1791 only five monthsbefore his father’s death. He, too,started composing at an early age,writing his first piano concerto atthe tender age of 14. He worked

as a music tutor, traveled aroundEurope and performed his and hisfather’s music. He died a bache-lor on July 29 1844 in KarlovyVary, where he was treated forstomach cancer.

The first person to bring usa photo of F.X. Mozart’s tomb-stone to the Festival Daily officeson the second floor of theThermal will win two tickets toMonday’s screening of BabyDriver (July 3 at 11:59pm at Čascinema). Our mystery tip: Afterdark you can spot fireflies hover-ing above the former cemetery.

This piece was inspired by thebook Zmizelé Karlovy Vary(Vanished Karlovy Vary) by LukášNovotný and published byPaseka. z

MYSTERY SPOTS

THE OTHER MOZART’S GRAVESwedish director-writer-produc-

er Saleh brings a welcome dose ofScandinavian noir to the land ofhis ancestors with this compelling,gritty Cairo policier set against thebackdrop of the 2011 political un-rest. The Lebanon-born Swedishactor Fares Fares is excellent asDetective Noredin, just your ordi-nary, ambitious cop on the take,

thanks to his uncle, the policechief. But when he is drawn intothe murder investigation of a beau-

tiful singer, the case brings intoquestion his methods and beliefsand even threatens his life.

THE NILE HILTON INCIDENTDirector: Tarik Saleh

Sweden/Germany/Denmark,

2016, 109min

July 1, 9am, Grand Hall

Don’t miss this chance to seethe premiere of a new, digitally-restored version of this fantasticOscar-winning drama on the bigscreen, where the intense blackand white cinematography byVladimír Novotný will show to itsbest advantage. The great IdaKamińska is unforgettable as theelderly, hard-of-hearing, Jewish

widow who doesn’t understandthat her button shop has beenAryanized. Rather, she thinks that

her inept Slovak peasant con-troller is her new assistant. Bringtissues.

THE SHOP ON MAIN STREETDirectors: Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos

Czechoslovakia, 1965, 125min

July 1, 2pm, Grand Hall

Set on the last day of WorldWar II, in a small town teemingwith Polish exiles and Sovietoccupiers, this is one of directorWajda’s most iconic films. Itbrilliantly interweaves the fateof one man with the fate of his nation. It is especially no-table for the performance ofZbigniew Cybulski, a charis-

matic legend of Polish cinemawho died far too young. Here heis extremely effective as a tired

Home Army veteran who is as-signed to kill a Soviet commis-sar. z

ASHES AND DIAMONDSDirector: Andrzej Wajda

Poland, 1958, 105min

July 1, 7pm, Národní dům Cinema

THREE PICKS FOR TODAYALISSA SIMON, FILM CRITIC, VARIETY

Katya and Oleg in the back and forth of exasperation and connection, in Arrhythmia.

St. Ondřej’s church today.

Yesterday’s winner, Adéla Turanová.

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Saturday, July 1, 2017 FESTIVAL DAILY strana 3 / page 3

by Michael Stein and Iva Roze

This year's East of the Westfilms don’t only crash the gateswith a range of remarkable filmsbut show an evident need – fromcountries as varied as Ukraine,Estonia and Romania – to tellchallenging stories of family ties,whether broken, frayed or com-ing closer together against theodds.

Mariţa is the debut film ofRomanian director Cristi Iftime.It follows the journey of 30-year-old Costi, who gets melan-cholic after an argument with hisgirlfriend, so he persuades hisfather to take a road trip withhim. They travel in their old car,Mariţa, to meet up with the wifeand children Costi has ignoredfor years because he had betterthings to do.

“The trip from Transylvania toMoldavia...happens in externalspace but also in the interiorspace of memories that attractCosti to a ‘home’ which is not thephysical house, nor a group ofpeople (since they have allchanged) but a lost state of mind,”says Iftime.

In Russian director AlexanderHant’s feature debut How Viktor“the Garlic” Took Alexey “theStud” to the Nursing Home it al-so takes a road trip to begin toforge a relationship between anestranged father and son. The filmcontains all the potential clichétraps: the pathetic rural disco,scenes of drunken screaming and

Russian mafia thugs, but these arejust props set off against the realdrama, the age-old conflict anddeep bond between two genera-tions, a drama brilliantly broughtto life by actors Evgeny Tkachukand Alexey Serebryakov.

According to the film’s produc-er, Fedor Popov, the renownedSerebryakov agreed to play theformer mafioso invalid father forfree for the opportunity to be partof the low-budget film.

Yet another father-son dramacomes from Estonia in The ManWho Looks Like Me. A musiccritic named Hugo is goingthrough a relationship crisiswhen, out of the blue, his fathershows up on his doorstep and an-

nounces he’s going to die soonand will need somebody to lookafter him. Written and directed byAndres and Katrin Maimik, thefilm is a touching, bittersweettake on a detached generationalgap.

Another directorial debut isMarina Stepanska’s Falling, inwhich recovering addict Antonand his strained relationship withthe grandfather who raised him isthe backdrop to the suddenchange in his life when he meetsKatia outside a Kiev nightclub.The intense emotional bond thatarises between the young coupleis matched by feelings of fearabout what the future holds bothfor them and for Ukraine, fears

made worse when Anton is or-dered into the army and hisgrandfather’s health falters.

In Mariam Khatchvani’s fea-ture debut family obligation andtradition come up against the de-sires of the heart in a compellingstory set in a mountainous regionof Georgia and inspired by the di-rector's own grandmother. EdonRizvanolli’s Unwanted alsotouches on old family wounds asit follows Alban, a rebelliousteenager, who left Kosovo duringthe war and now lives inAmsterdam with his mother. Thefilm starts and ends with Alban ina fight, a fitting metaphor fora story of a kid who tries to fit inbut doesn’t. z

WHEN BLOODLINES BREAKEAST OF THE WEST COMPETITION SHOWCASES THE REGION’S NEW, EXTRAORDINARY FILMS

The struggles between fathers and sons make up a big part of this year’s East of the West films.

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Sometimes I make the spiritedbut ultimately futile effort to ex-plain what I like about films andbooks from Central and EasternEurope to my friends back homein the U.S. – that though it's notexactly that I think they're better(though I often do) but that theycontain a spark, a spirit that can'teasily be described. It's not onlya matter of artistic differences. It'ssomething else and reminds me ofthe very first film I saw uponcoming to the Czech Republic inthe early 90s. Reading the aboveyou might think that would bea Czech classic or one of the newCzech films of the 90s, but not atall.

I was visiting my girlfriendabout 40 minutes outside ofPrague in the shadow of a mas-sive paper mill that made the airsmell like rotten eggs. We had herparents' place to ourselves, or soI thought, and as evening settledin she put a tape in the VHS play-er. It was Apocalypse Now.Except it was somehow thewrong video format so it playedin a monochrome brown as if shehad gotten a sepia print of thefilm. This didn't seem to botherher at all. Naturally, it wasdubbed. I found this a bit disturb-ing but not nearly as disturbing aswhat came next.

I heard the door open and hermother walked into the room. Mygirlfriend translated introductions.A few minutes later her father

walked in, shook my hand, pur-posefully not looking in his wife'sdirection. Clearly, they weren't onspeaking terms. We sat in the liv-ing room, the warring spousesacross from one another whiletheir daughter made tea. I sat di-rectly across from an equally pan-icked Martin Sheen, who at thispoint was stripped down to his un-derwear doing tai chi in hisSaigon hotel room with TheDoors' blasting “The End.” Thiswas the end, my only friend.When our translator was out ofthe room I stared at the screen,watching Sheen lose his mind,nodding to him silently: “I know how you feel.” At othertimes a translated conversationtook place but it was hard to hearover the helicopters.

It’s this particular spirit of vi-tality and absurdity I see in somany of the films and booksI love from this part of the world,so natural and unforced, as if itjust slipped in through the doorlike my old girlfriend’s parents. z

MY FIRSTCZECH FILM

DAILY RANTMICHAEL STEIN, FESTIVAL DAILY WRITER

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strana 4 / page 4 FESTIVAL DAILY Saturday, July 1, 2017

EVENTS

by Michael Stein

Though he died of cancer at theage of only 58, Mizoguchi was anuncommonly prolific director,making almost 90 films starting inthe silent era up to his final film in1956. Sadly, well over half of hisoutput has been lost, but what re-mains has secured his placeamong the greatest directors of alltime.

This year’s KVIFF will presentten of the Japanese director’s filmsspanning a period of over twodecades of his illustrious career.

It has become something ofa critical pastime to debate themerits of the three most famousJapanese directors – Ozu,Kurosawa and Mizoguchi. FrenchNew Wave filmmakers, for themost part, came down firmly onMizoguchi’s side, revering him tothe point that Jean-Luc Godardeven went to Kyoto to put flowerson the maestro’s grave.

But to many film loversMizoguchi is the least known ofthe big three. British writer, cura-tor and film critic Tony Rayns,who selected the Mizoguchi filmsin the KVIFF retrospective, does-n't think this has anything to dowith the great director’s criticalstanding, but if it is true at allmight be more an issue of avail-ability.

“Ozu’s films are widely avail-able on DVD and Blu-ray largelybecause he worked throughout hiscareer for one company, Shochiku.Distributors and home-video pub-lishers can negotiate with one com-pany for the rights to all but two ofhis films. Mizoguchi, by contrast,changed companies frequently –a factor which has slightly reducedhis visibility,” says Rayns.

The earliest made Mizoguchifilm screening at the festival isThe Downfall of Osen, a 1934film that was shot silent with mu-sic and narration added on. It tellsthe story of two former employeesof a corrupt art dealer whose var-ied fortunes later in life confronta theme that will remain a signa-ture one in Mizoguchi’s work.

Osen, a maid, prostitutes herselfto support Sokichi, a messenger,so he can continue his education.Much later, when Sokichi has be-come a successful doctor and longforgotten her, they meet on a sta-tion platform. A woman sacrific-ing herself for a man is a staplethroughout Mizoguchi’s films,something which Rayns sees ashaving both social as well as in-tellectual dimensions, besides itsevident aesthetic force.

“Mizoguchi was obsessed with‘women’s issues’ for much of hislife. His off-screen behavior wasnot especially feminist, but hisfilms sometimes were, notably inthe late 1940s, when the US occu-pation forces mandated ‘democra-tic’ subjects,” says Rayns.“Obviously yes, there is a socialcritique in play. There is alsoa psychological interest in victim-hood, masochism and resistance,all issues readily observed inwomen characters abused or con-trolled by men.”

A woman’s sacrifice is also cen-tral to The Story of the LastChrysanthemum (1939), a filmRayns considers to be one ofMizoguchi’s best and the peak ofhis aesthetic experimentation. Thefilm follows the fortunes ofa Meiji era kabuki actor named

Kikunosuke who is forced out ofhis home because of his love forhis younger brother’s wet nurse,Otoku.

She is the only one who be-lieves in his acting talent and hisexpulsion and trials in provincialand traveling theaters give him theexperience that bring his talent tofruition while destroying Otoku'shealth, who has selflessly sacri-ficed everything for the man sheloves and believes in.

Rayns notes how the U.S. occu-pation army under GeneralMacArthur imposed social stric-tures on the industry which actu-ally allowed Mizoguchi to makefilms about the limitations im-posed on women in Japanese so-ciety, the best example of whichhe considers My Love Has BeenBurning. The 1949 film is in-

spired by the autobiography of thelate 19th-century feminist pioneerKageyama Hideko, fictionalizingher as a woman who rebelsagainst her family, goes into poli-tics, but realizes that even in thefight for freedom women are ontheir own.

Mizoguchi films included in thetribute also venture into Japan'sdistant past with equally stingingand relevant social critiques.There is his visually stunning andmasterful tale of 11th-centuryslavery, Sansho, the Bailiff(1954), as well as perhaps hismost famous film, the 1953 clas-sic Tales of the Moon and theRain (often titled Ugetsu) basedon a ghost story and set in the 16thcentury.

The master’s final completedfilm, Street of Shame (1956) is

starkly modern by contrast, bothin the way it films Tokyo’sYoshiwara brothel district as wellas how it deals with the issue ofprostitution, intertwining the sto-ries of the women who work ata brothel, examining their reasonsand consequences that can comewith the job.

Festival-goers will also be treat-ed to frequent Mizoguchi-collab-orator Kaneto Shindo's 1975 doc-umentary Kenji Mizoguchi: TheLife of a Film Director, a pieceshot over two years consisting ofinterviews with actors, crew mem-bers and producers who workedwith the director over his long ca-reer. The selections are roundedout by Osaka Elegy (1936), MissOyu (1951), The Life of Oharu(1952) and New Tales of the TairaClan (1955). z

KENJI MIZOGUCHI: JAPANESE MASTER OF SACRIFICE, RESISTANCEKVIFF PAYS TRIBUTE TO ONE OF WORLD CINEMA’S MOST CELEBRATED DIRECTORS

Oscar-nominated soundtrackcomposer James NewtonHoward will be conductinga Master Class today at4:00pm in the Hotel Thermal’sCongress Hall, in which he willpresent work using excerptsfrom film with live piano, re-vealing mysteries of his art andprofession. American film crit-ic and historian LeonardMaltin will host along with Czech composer JanP. Muchow.

In a new initiative withVariety, Barrandov Studio andCzech Anglo Productions,Artisans in Focus will spotlightcreatives behind images andsounds with a panel on cine-matography, editing, productionand costume design on July 2at 2:30pm in the Hotel ThermalVodafone Lounge. Award-win-ning Austrian editor MonikaWilli, Polish cinematographerWojciech Staroń, Americancostume designer AnnellBrodeur and Czech productiondesigner Ondřej Nekvasil willreveal insights, moderated byVariety’s managing editor forfeatures, Peter Caranicas.

Also on Sunday at 4:30pmin the Congress Hall, actorCasey Affleck, director DavidLowery, producers TobyHalbrooks and James M.Johnston are on deck in a talk

moderated by Scott Feinbergof The Hollywood Reporter dis-cussing their joint project,A Ghost Story, which opens incinemas this week. The groupfirst joined forces while work-ing on Ain’t Them BodiesSaints, which they presentedhere in 2013.

Czech director JaroslavKučera’s work is chronicled ina new monograph, In Between

Images: CinematographerJaroslav Kučera’s MediaPractices, discussed July 3 at3:30pm in Cinema A by authorKateřina Svatoňová and AlešNajbrt. Excerpts from workwith Věra Chytilová, VojtěchJasný and Karel Kachyňa,along with the experimentalfilm 1984: The Year of Orwellwill also screen. This talk is inCzech with English translation.

British creative team KenLoach and Paul Laverty willtalk with journalist Neil Youngon July 4 at 2:30pm in theVodafone Lounge. Loach andscreenwriter Laverty haveworked together on 12 featuresand two shorts as pioneers ofBritish social realist cinema andthis year receive a Crystal Globefor Outstanding ArtisticContribution to World Cinema.

Canadian independent film-maker Denis Côté is hosted bydramaturg and journalist AlešStuchlý July 5 at 4pm inCinema C discussing his twodecades of work including morethan 12 features and 16 shorts.His Vic and Flo Saw a Bearwon the Silver Bear and theAlfred Bauer Prize at theBerlinale in 2013. This year’sKVIFF is showing his first film,Drifting States, which earnedthe Golden Leopard at Locarno.

American actor and musicianJeremy Renner will speak fol-lowing his screening of WindRiver at 3pm July 7 in theThermal Grand Hall, hosted byKVIFF Artistic Director KarelOch. Renner’s roles in Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker and inArrival set him apart as a screenpresence, along with perform-ances in The Avengers, Mission:Impossible series and AmericanHustle. z (WT)

FACES

Among the new arrivals on the secondday of KVIFF is the director of the maincompetition film Corporate, NicolasSilhol, as well as the film’s cast, actressCéline Sallette and actor LambertWilson. Main competition film Khibulais represented by director GeorgeOvashvili while Little Crusader has itsdirector Václav Kadrnka arriving andRalang Road its director KarmaTakapa.

Future Frames section welcomes thisyear’s mentor Denis Côté who will in-troduce his film Drifting States and TheMost Important Thing: Love, which heselected as his carte blanche.

Director Jun Geng will present Freeand Easy and director Miransha Naikwill show his film Juze, both in the offi-cial selection – out of competition.Director and producer Vít Klusák hascome to KVIFF to screen his documen-tary The White World According to

Daliborek. The East of the West compe-tition section welcomes MariamKhatchvani (Dede) and MarinaStepanska (Falling). Films in theHorizon section with guests arriving in-clude actor Simon Al-Bazoon (TheOther Side of Hope) and director andeditor Monika Willi (Untitled). TheSpecial Events section sees the arrival ofactors Martin Hub, Vojtěch Johaníkand Leoš Noha from the Czech filmGrowroom.

Variety Critics’ Choice section isbringing director Simon Lavoie toscreen Those Who Make RevolutionsHalfway Only Dig Their Own Gravesand director Greg Zglinski with his filmAnimals.

Director György Kristóf is comingwith his film Out in the section CzechFilms 2016–2017 and the Imagina sec-tion welcomes director Ben Pointeker,who will screen his work Impassenger. z

WHERE TO MEET THE FILMMAKERS CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING KVIFF TALKS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The role of women in Japanese society was central to Mizoguchi’s films.

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Today’s KVIFF Talk will feature James Newton Howard.

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Mariam KhatchvaniMonika Willi Marina Stepanska

Karma TakapaCéline Sallette Lambert Wilson