NICOLAE CONSTANTIN TĂNASE

DIRECTOR, THE WORLD IS MINE

NEED SOME DOWNTIME? HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

I’d recommend the competition filmBox by Romanian director Florin Șerbanwhose first feature won a Berlin SilverBear. He’s got a very special way of work-ing with actors and I think this will also bea big element in his new movie. I’m real-ly looking forward to it.

I’ve heard the documentary GameOver is about a person bored by life whotries to find himself in a virtual persona.I met the filmmaker Alba Sotorra lastnight and she seemed very passionateabout this project, so I think it’s definite-ly worth seeing. And then there’s all themidnight screenings, which are part ofthe festival’s tradition. Everyone shouldget to see at least one or two of them, be-cause they’re pure fun and the audienceis absolutely great. (COC)

Box screens today at 8pm (ThermalGrand Hall), tomorrow at 1pm (PuppCinema), and on July 11 at 9am(Drahomíra). Game Over screens today at3:30pm (Čas Cinema), and tomorrow at 5pm(Drahomíra). Tănase’s The World Is Minescreens today at 1:30pm (Lázně III). z

EXPLAINERSEE YOU THERE

Filmmaker Andrew Renzi says he learned much of his craft while making breakfast for Wes Anderson.

Will Tizard, Klára Kolářová

Writer-director Andrew Renzi, who im-pressed critics and audiences last year atKVIFF with Fishtail, his docu on the dis-appearing American west, has returnedwith another coup, Franny, starringRichard Gere in an unconventional roleas man who has it all – except love.

You actually worked with WesAnderson when you were 19, helpinghim prep for a feature film. Was thatinspirational?

It was before he made The DarjeelingLimited and he’d just finished HotelChevalier, which is a short film that goesalong with that film. So when he went offto India, I went back to college. It wasamazing. I was literally making himbreakfast so it wasn’t like writing scriptswith him or anything, but it was inspir-ing. He had mango lassis every day be-cause he was preparing and he was onlyhaving Indian food all the time.

But this was still in the US? So hewanted to be mentally in India?

Mentally in India. The whole house,

everything, had to be mentally in India.It was very funny. The best part about itwas I became very close with a lot of thepeople he works with, his crew members.So his peripheral collaborators becamefriends of mine and almost taught mehow to make a movie.

Did you end up working with them?Yep, quite a few people. I worked with

his art director, Kris Moran... She dida movie I produced, Afterschool and onecalled Two Gates of Sleep.

Afterschool was quite successfulhere. And you often use pop songs inyour films – often retro stuff. What dothese add for you?

It always depends on the movie.Fishtail clearly wasn’t going to have anypop songs in it but there’s something es-pecially about Franny and aboutKaraoke!, a short film I made that havea kind of pop element to them – a kind ofundeniable, sporadic, kind of poppy feeland it’s always been an interesting exer-cise for me to kind of play with tone.Franny is the kind of movie that kind oftonally falls all over – you’re not quitesure what it is. And I thought that was

kind of fun to be able to experiment withthat. It’s not always the most popularthing to do – to put a pop song in a movieis not exactly like a “festival darling”idea...[but] why not try those kinds ofthings?

Of course someone at a festival inEurope will say, “That’s so American.”

Yeah. exactly. And it’s funny becauseit’s not really anymore, because theAmerican thing to do now is to be asstark as possible because that’s kind ofbecome the trend and the populist thingto do in terms of independent film. It’sa bit of an “anti” move at this point but itstill is kind of ingrained in our psyche asbeing this distinctly American flashyfilmmaking thing to do.

So you’re not too troubled by yourcritics’ reviews.

Sometimes I read them. I’m not goingto be like one of those guys who says, “Idon’t read my reviews.” I definitely readthem. But I think a movie like Franny,there’s just nothing critic-proof about it.So it’s been kinda nice to see that, despitestarting at negative 10, it’s been gettingpositive responses.

What was the collaboration like withRichard Gere in developing Franny?

We decided we have two options: Wecan go and make almost a neo-realist ap-proach to a film like this that could besomething like The Wrestler where youhave a stark meditation on a man and hisloneliness, a man who’s past his prime –almost a point-and-shoot thing. But wesaid, no, we’re both doing something dif-ferent here that we’ve never done togeth-er. He’s never done a role like this, whichis why he was attracted to it. So we saidlet’s kind of swing for the fences herewith a real kind of almost Italian-inspiredtone, just something really wild.

How was it teaming up with sucha well-known veteran actor?

The collaboration was the hardest partof the process for me. When Richard andI started working together, the movie wasgoing to change. That was actually thehardest part for me – adapting to the ideaof collaboration. Everything I had donebefore was like a singular narrative ap-proach. In my short films, everythingI shot was in the movie. There was noth-ing left over. z

SPECIAL EDITION OF

KVIFF’s MAIN MEDIA PARTNER

INSIDEMyriam Sassine on Lebanese filmEnglish Section, page 2

Today’s Official Selection filmsEnglish Section, page 3

Larisa Shepitko retrospectiveEnglish Section, page 4

Tomorrow’s programCzech Section, pages 7-10

It’s surprisingly rare at a fest evenas momentous at KVIFF that truly his-tory-making moments transpire - es-pecially ones in convenient view rollingout before the frantic popping of cam-era flashes.

Former fest Artistic Director EvaZaoralová, however, made sure we gotone Monday, with the christening of hernew book, The Story of a Festival,which recounts “the good years, thenot-so-good years and the bad years,”including the grim era in which Soviet-backed Czech communists viewed theKarlovy Vary fest as a useful tool foragitprop.

A far cry from today, thankfully, whenfest prez Jiří Bartoška and other de-voted fans of the great lady can open-ly cheer for such a journalistic achieve-ment. The book reps a fascinatingproject loaded with archival riches fromHenry Fonda to Tony Curtis by way ofcountless Czech legends of cinema. It’salso bound to sell out at the fest shopso by all means do start rioting. Justmaybe we can create enough of an in-cident to merit chronicling for futureKVIFF historians. z

RENZI SWINGS FOR THE FENCES LOWDOWN

57/7 2015

FREE

We’re over halfwaythrough the festival and per-haps you feel the need toget away from it all. Maybego to the mountains,breathe some fresh air, pet agoat, feel a tropical butter-fly brush against yourcheek... Believe it or not thewooded hill behind theGrandhotel Pupp has allthat! The Diana touristcomplex (dianakv.cz) com-prises the DianaObservation Tower andfunicular, Diana Restaurant (see page 4 for review), ButterflyHouse, and Mini Zoo. The funicular (steep light railway) canbe boarded at Mariánská (a lane to the right of the Pupp). Areturn ticket costs 40 CZK for kids and 80 CZK for adults; thecarriage runs 9am-7pm every 15 minutes, taking 3 minutes toget to the top. The first stop, halfway up, is the “Stag’s Jump”

(of KVIFF mascot fame). Afterdisembarking at the second stop,you will find yourself at theDiana Observation Tower, whichoffers spectacular views of thetown and across the region, as faras the Ore Mountains. Entry tothe tower is free with the optionof using an elevator or climbing150 stairs (9am-6.45pm). Thenventure around the back of the ad-jacent Diana Restaurant wherekids and the young-at-heart willbe delighted to find a Mini Zoo(no entry fee) with pettable

ponies, pigs, and goats, and a pair of wandering peacocks. Tocomplete this mini getaway follow the sign for the ButterflyHouse (10am-7pm, 40/80 CZK) – a room heated to rainfor-est temperatures and housing more than 20 different kinds oftropical butterflies in all stages of development, from egg, tochrysalis to fully grown. (GP) z

Photo: Petr Horník

A beauty at the Butterfly House

Photo: Jan Handrejch

Write to us at kviffdaily@gmail.com. (Also go to: facebook.com/KVIFF, Twitter via @kviffest (in English).

strana 2 / page 2 FESTIVAL DAILY Tuesday, July 7, 2015

MY KVGyula NemesDirector/writer, Zero

What are your hopes are forZero, which is screening in theEast of the West competition?

In Europe, basically, all film-makers make films for five people.Five-member commissions decideif my film can be made, five mem-bers decide in which country myfilm can be distributed, film mem-bers decide at which festival it canbe screened. I was waiting for thismoment for nine years; nowa sixth person can watch mymovie.

Zero is a subversive, provoca-tive, aesthetically and politicallyradical film. So my first hope is thescreening will be without anyscandal. My second hope is thataudiences will laugh from the firstminute till the last one.

What drove you to take on thesubject of eco disaster?

Ecological catastrophes allaround the world and social andpolitical injustice in Hungary gaveme an elementary anger and thespirit to make a controversial filmagainst the system. It wasn't easyto make it in a country that helpedconstruct the Iron Curtain.

My two main goals were to pro-voke and to entertain. So there issome political delicacy in Zerowhen the main hero shoots cus-tomers from the roof of the shop-ping mall or when Merkel, Putin,and others are shot to pieces. Allthat so you can slap your kneeswith laughter.

Do you worry we really maybe headed toward an apocalyp-tic world soon?

The apocalypse has alreadystarted – we just didn't notice.Some 30 percent of the bees havedied out. In Zero, by 2017 all thebees finally die – and if we don'tsave them, in 2020 mankind willalso die out. The danger is real:mankind has a less and less humanface. The key will be Africa; that'swhy the film ends there.

You’re a KVIFF veteran, hav-ing done well with your workhere before

When I got the best short docu-mentary award in 2008 [for LostWorld], the security guys didn't letme in to the award ceremony be-cause I didn't have a suit.Somehow I got to the stage andI shocked the announcer whenI started to speak in Czech. He did-n't know I speak Czech so hethought I was the wrong person onstage. He was searching for themistake in his papers and I wasstanding there in my shirt and fi-nally I got big, sympathetic ap-plause.

Zero screens tomorrow at 4pm(KV Theater) and on July 9 at1:30pm (Lázně III) (WT) z

César Augusto Acevedo’s debutfeature is a simple but powerfulstory depicting the terrible effectsof intensive single-crop farmingin rural South America. An oldman returns home after nearly 20years to look after his son whosehealth has been ruined by hardtoil. He rediscovers his oldhouse, where his ex-wife stilllives, with his daughter-in-law

and grandson. The landscape thatawaits him resembles a waste-land, with vast sugar cane planta-tions producing perpetual clouds

of ash. Using stunning imagery,Acevedo explores family, re-demption, and the ghosts of thepast.

LAND AND SHADEDirector: César Augusto Acevedo

Colombia/Chile/Netherlands/France

/Brazil, 2015, 97min

July 7, 6:30pm, Cinema B – Thermal

As Europe gasps in disbelief atthe outcome of Greece’s referen-dum, Syllas Tzoumerkas’ secondfeature conveys a sense of howthe country became so radical-ized while impressively depictingthe pent-up rage of youngGreeks. Like his 2010 debut,Homeland, he looks at the eco-nomic crisis through the prism ofthe family – the institution that

determines the life of everyGreek and has never been ques-tioned. The “mentality withinfamilies,” can shed light on

Greece’s recent past, says the di-rector. “They are the people; whodecide, who vote. History is cre-ated by their actions.”

A BLASTDirector: Syllas Tzoumerkas

Greece/Germany/Netherlands,

2014, 83min

July 7, 9.30pm, Cinema B – Thermal

At first glance, Simon Jaquemet’simpressive debut feature abouta monosyllabic teenager froma dysfunctional family who issent to an Alpine young offendersresort has all the hallmarks ofa social study. But it turns intosomething very different – a kindof anarchic declaration of war,like the title suggests (“Chrieg”means “war” in Swiss German).

The outstanding cameraworkplunges headfirst into the actionwith the protagonists, producingpowerful images. Seeing anger

run wild in a country likeSwitzerland seems inconceivable,but this thriller-drama alwaysfeels authentic. z

CHRIEG (WAR)Director: Simon Jaquemet

Switzerland, 2014, 110min

July 7, 10.30am, Richmond

After taking a very serious look atreligious fundamentalism inStations of the Cross, DietrichBrüggemann has surprisinglytackled something totally differ-ent: a radical send-up of neo-Nazis in eastern Germany. The di-rector is sure comedy is anappropriate genre to deal with thetopic and that satire is the onlyway of “cinematically getting

hold” of a complex reality. “Muchof what we see in the movie is in-spired by actual events, when re-ality itself almost becomes satiri-

cal,” he says. Impressively paced,his film is a snappy commentaryon German society with razor-sharp dialogue.

HEILDirector: Dietrich Brüggemann

Germany, 2015, 103min

July 7, 9am, Drahomíra

CRITIC’S CHOICEPaul Katzenberger, Film Journalist, Süddeutsche.de

FACES

There’s another batch of peoplehitting the fest today: actor UdoKier is coming with two films –Zero and The Forbidden Room.Watch out for the director JanPrušinovský and actors JanHájek, Kryštof Hádek andMatěj Hádek who are all arrivingtoday with The Snake Brothers.Director Radim Špaček, actress

Johana Matoušková and actorVladimír Polívka are here withPlaces. The stars of TangerineAlla Tumanian and MickeyO'Hagan will be arriving today.Several directors are expected toarrive today, including DiegoOngaro (Bob and the Trees),Tonislav Hristov (Once Upon aDream – A Journey to the Last

Spaghetti Western), DaliborMatanić (The High Sun), MartinBlažíček (oV), Peter Brunner(Those Who Fall Have Wings),Alexis Alexiou (Wednesday 4:45),Kim Hee-jung (Snow Paths), MinKyu-dong (The Treacherous) andBujar Alimani (Chromium).Producer Ada Solomon (Aferim!)will be here too. (GP) z

Radim Špaček Tonislav Hristov Diego Ongaro

Dalibor Matanić Kim Hee-jung Udo Kier

Kateřina Farná

Myriam Sassine is a Lebanese director andproducer. She produced Lebanese/French fea-ture documentary e muet, which is screeningat KVIFF.

You assisted during the selection processfor the Week of Lebanese Cinema sidebar...

I made an early selection of around 30movies, including documentary and fiction,which showed the important titles of our in-dustry. [KVIFF artistic director] Karel Ochthen picked eight titles from these films, butthe selection is very emblematic of theLebanese industry, because he practicallypicked one thing from each big Lebanese di-rector. So we have our big filmmaking starNadine Labaki, who was in Cannes for herpast two films [Caramel, Where Do We GoNow?]. Then there are other filmmakers whohave had recognition worldwide, such asKhalil Joreige and Joana Hádjithomas, whoare a filmmaker couple living and working to-gether. They made the film A Perfect Day,which is from our company.

Was it successful?It had a lot of success. It was very impor-

tant in Lebanon when it was shown because itwas a period when not many Lebanesemovies were coming out. It was a very art-house film, but it reflected on our situationand what we’re dealing with – like how to getrid of the past, accept it, and move forward.It’s about this guy who is narcoleptic andkeeps falling asleep. He manages to convincehis mom to go and declare his father dead.His father had disappeared during the war.There were no films showing contemporaryBeirut at that moment, so this is a very im-portant film.

Are stories of missing people commonlyheard in Lebanon?

Yes, during the Lebanese civil war, a lot ofpeople went missing. To this day a lot of theirfamilies and relatives have no clue what hap-

pened to them. Eliane Rehab’s documentarySleepless Nights, for example, takes a moth-er who lost her kid and has no knowledge ofwhat happened to him. They say he died dur-ing a battle, etcetera. Eliane sets up an en-counter between this woman and the mainleader of operations at a battle where they sayher son was killed. She tries to get an answerfrom him all through the film. The importanceof this movie is that it gets somewhere; it givesthe mother an answer...A lot of [films in theLebanese showcase] seek out the memory ofLebanon, the memory of what happened dur-ing the Civil War, because our history booksstop at 1940, after independence. We have noofficial history written, so filmmakers havestarted writing this history themselves

Does the documentary you produced, emuet, which follows three young women,seek answers too?

Actually, e muet is a completely differentkind of film. It’s a film that doesn’t approachpolitics. If you watch our cinema, you’ll seethat a lot of it is very political. Corine Shawi’sapproach is to go through emotions, to look atwhat makes a human being and their feelings.

What’s the title all about?

It’s the term in French for the “e” that de-notes feminine adjectives but which you don’tpronounce. It’s silent but it wants to expressitself. This letter is representative of womenand the feminine side in French. The directorfelt this was what her film was about, to showwomen speaking out loud about things youdon’t usually talk about.

What’s the situation like for women inLebanon?

As a film producer myself, I personallydon’t feel a difference. Lebanon is somehowvery modern regarding women. Women allwork and they are in really high positions. It’spart of the economic system, so we don’t seeit as a big achievement. But now that I’veseen the situation in other countries, I believewe are lucky to have this. z

USING FILM TO WRITE HISTORY

Myriam Sassine came up with a long list for the Week of Lebanese Cinema sidebar.

NOTICEToday’s screening of A Perfect Day

(12:30pm, Thermal Small Hall) will be pre-ceded by a screening of another Lebanesefilm, Wave 98 (this year’s Palme d’Or win-ner for best short at Cannes). The directorEly Dagher will be in attendance. z

Tuesday, July 7, 2015 FESTIVAL DAILY strana 3 / page 3

congratulatesHungarian National Film Fund

byLili Horváthin East of the West – Competition

screeningsJuly 7, 6.30 pm • Karlovy Vary Theatre • Premiere

July 8, 4.30 pm • Lazne III

byMátyás Szabóin Future Frames

screeningsJuly 7, 3.30 pm • Small Hall • Premiere

July 11, 7.30 pm • Lazne III

byGyula Nemesin East of the West – Competition

screeningsJuly 7, 3.30 pm • Cinema A • Press & Industry July 8, 4 pm • Karlovy Vary Theatre • Premiere

July 9, 1.30 pm • Lazne III

Sales and Festivals

filmfund.hu

OFFICIAL SELECTION

Zbyněk Vlasák

Jan Prušinovský is best knownto Czechs as the director of televi-sion comedy series infused withthe poetics of Prague’s famousDejvické Divadlo theater. His filmThe Snake Brothers shows histalent for serious (but not suffo-cating) drama. The story is set ina small bleak town in CentralBohemia, where siblings Cobraand Viper (played by Kryštof andMatěj Hádek, respectively) strug-gle in radically different ways tofind their way in life; while Cobrais a meth-head anarchist, his re-sponsible big brother Viper ismore at sea: on the verge of turn-ing things around, he decides toteach Cobra a lesson.

Do you identify more withCobra or Viper?

I’m not an anarchist like Cobra;in a way his behavior disgusts me.I feel closer to Viper, at the sametime I myself battle with somefeatures typical of him – such asdodging problems. I often have tomuster strength to say somethingunpleasant or do something all outthough it could be done at halfsteam.

Is Central Bohemia itself re-flected in the film?

Central Bohemia is practicallydepopulated. Locals commute toPrague and come home only tosleep. They don’t even stay forweekends. The result is almost ze-ro civic activity; people don’t getinvolved in their neighborhoods.It is an industrial satellite with on-ly small entrepreneurs scraping

along and warehouses remain-ing... Kralupy, where we shot,looks just like it did 15 years ago– a town only 20km from Prague!And is anything reflected in thefilm? I guess mainly the meth.The ingredients come from the lo-cal chemical plant and supposed-ly the country’s best meth iscooked there, so good it’s onlymeant for export.

What attracted you toJaroslav Žváček’s script ?

I actually identified with it atfirst reading. I came across issuesI feel the need to tackle myself...Suddenly, I had a script on mydesk I actually regarded as somesort of generational statement.

The movie is a “generational”film?

In my opinion it is rather thatthan a “social drama.” My gener-ation experienced the VelvetRevolution as children. We re-member it as a time of euphoria.Growing up in the 1990s, we still

thought everything was beautiful,open to all, and the world full ofpossibilities. Now we’re over 30and the reality is changing. Thesystem is suddenly stricter. Wehave trouble reconciling with it;we feel cheated. The sobering upis painful. The Snake Brothersdoesn’t explicitly show this stateof a generation, but I made it withthis feeling.

You’ve objected to it being la-beled a “loser” film...

I believe that “loser” movieslook at a certain period in a per-son’s life where they finally needto decide what to do next, what tofollow and may not be successfulat that... The Snake Brothers hasno traces of loser mentality. Allour characters have a clear moti-vation.

The Snake Brothers shows todayat 5pm (Thermal Grand Hall), tomor-row at 10am (Pupp Cinema), and at11:30am on July 10 (Drahomíra) z

THE SNAKE BROTHERS – A ‘GENERATIONAL’FILM WITH METH HEADS, BUT NO LOSERS

Czech director Jan Prušinovský (right) and actor Kryštof Hádek.

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o: O

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de M

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OFFICIAL SELECTION

Will Tizard

Romania’s Florin Șerban, es-tablished in recent years as a re-markable writer-director worthkeeping an eye on, brings to KVIFF his study of tough butlonely fighters of different kindswith Box, his second feature.

Șerban, who studied and taughtat Columbia University and holdsa masters in directing (in additionto one in philosophy of cultureand hermeneutics), invariablybrings an analytical approach tofilmmaking, presenting nuanced,intriguingly inconsistent charac-ters and situations that are ripe for various interpretations. Thewriter-director, who teaches at theActing School in Bucharest, is al-so known for his working rela-tionships with actors – and, notsurprisingly, for getting commandperformances from them.

Box, his second feature, showsoff this skill again, with fascinat-ing turns by Rafael Florea,a trained boxer, as 19-year-oldfighter Rafael, and actress HildaPéter as Cristina, the more ma-ture, married object of his desire.

Much about Șerban’s approachand philosophy comes throughfrom a comment he made aboutfilming his first feature, If I Wantto Whistle, I Whistle, a toughprison drama focusing on a defi-ant youth. Having insisted oncasting juvenile offenders to playthemselves, Șerban found afterworking with them in a prisonacting workshop that “if someonetells you over and over you aregood for nothing you end up be-

lieving it. But when somebodytells you something else, you tendnot to believe it.”

Perhaps it’s not so surprisingthat, with such a positivist ap-proach, the filmmaker won ravereviews, a Silver Bear at theBerlinale, and attention at festi-vals far beyond Europe forWhistle. The moving story of an-other teen facing tremendouschallenges in life and love, playedin the US and was Romania’sOscar submission in 2011.

So, although Box is only hissecond full-length narrative,Șerban’s background in shortfilms and documentaries seems tohave given him the groundingthat many filmmakers take yearsto establish. Part of the movie’sstrength is in the rich imagery ofdreary streets, fight training, andthe environments both charactersinhabit, each in their way missingthe one thing Rafael and Cristinaneed most: love.

Cinematography by Romanianmaster Marius Panduru, who alsolensed Whistle in addition to12:08 East of Bucharest andPolice, Adjective adds a transcen-dent quality to the film. Boxstands a little bit apart from thetraditions of the Romanian NewWave of the last few years, withȘerban feeling no need to slav-ishly embrace the stark, bleakstyle of so many of his compatri-ots who have followed in thefootsteps of Cristian Mungiu andhis 2007 Cannes winner, the com-munist-era abortion drama 4Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.

Șerban is now working on histhird feature, America, whosescript recently won backing fromthe Romanian film support or-ganization CNC.

Box screens today at 8pm(Thermal Grand Hall), tomorrow at1pm (Pupp Cinema), and on July 11at 9am (Drahomíra) z

BOX – LOVE ON THE ROPES IN INTENSE EMOTIONAL DRAMA

Box eschews the styling of many of Romanian New Wave films.

Phot

o: K

VIFF

Write to us at kviffdaily@gmail.com. (Also go to: facebook.com/KVIFF, Twitter via @kviffest (in English).

strana 4 / page 4 FESTIVAL DAILY Tuesday, July 7, 2015

ON THE TOWNDiana Restaurant Výšina přátelství, Tel. 353 222 872, dianakv.czOpen 11am-7pm

The Diana Restaurant is part of theDiana tourist complex (see Explaineron page 1 for more info) at Výšinapřátelství (Friendship Height), thehill behind the Grandhotel Pupp. Theformer hunting lodge has two largeairy rooms surrounded by tranquilwoodland and plenty of outdoorseating. In keeping with the restau-rant’s heritage, the menu is game-heavy and hearty. Keep it simplewith a pork schnitzel (160 CZK) orchicken salad (190 CZK) or go allout and share a huge 4-person silverplatter of rustic Czech specialties ,game specialties, or fish specialties(all in the region of 2,000 CZK).Vegetarians needn’t despair! Huntersalso gather mushrooms. There aredeep-fried breaded mushrooms orgnocchi with mushroom sauce (150

CZK each). Krušovice is the beer onoffer, in light, dark (35 CZK) orwheat (45 CZK) varieties. Dessertchoices are crepes, strudel, or ice-cream sundae, but unless it’s yourfirst day in Karlovy Vary you alreadyknew that!

Coffee Bar Grand CaféT.G. Masaryka 24, Tel. 353 408 523,grandhotel-ambassador.czOpen 9am-9pm

The Coffee Bar Grand Café is inthe same recently restored art nou-veau building as the Národní dům

screening hall, making it a goodspot to grab a drink before a film.Prices are reasonable consideringthe grandeur of the setting – 95CZK for mixed drinks, 65 CZK foran iced coffee with a scoop of ice-cream. There’s also a pleasant side-walk terrace that’s perfect for somecrowd-watching.

TandoorI P Pavlova 25 (in the courtyard), Tel. 608 701 341, tandoor-kv.czOpen noon-9pm

A good lunch spot serving upclassic Indian dishes just a few min-utes’ walk from the Thermal.During the festival they will be of-fering a limited selected menu (in-cluding vegetarian options) to aidswift service and get you back tobusiness promptly. Brisk service en-sures a quick bite between screen-ings and tobacco abstainers will ap-preciate the non-smoking maindining room. (GP) z

EVENTSPITCH & FEEDBACKThis annual presentation of selected Czech and Slovak film proj-ects in development is organized by the Czech Film Center, theSlovak Film Institute, the KVIFF Industry Office and the MIDPOINTScript Center. Projects will be pitched by their creators to repre-sentatives from various areas of the international film industry.The experts will provide direct feedback and advice for each proj-ect. The event take places from 10am to 1pm today at theBarrandov Studios Villa (a.k.a. Becher’s Villa).

DOCU TALENTS FROM THE EASTPitch & Feedback will be followed by Docu Talents from the Eastat the same location (Barrandov Studios Villa, 2pm to 4pm). DocuTalents from the East is organized by the Jihlava international doc-umentary festival and KVIFF. The event will introduce documen-tary projects from CEE countries in production or post-production.Directors and producers will give 8-minute presentations of 13 se-lected feature-length documentaries planned for theatrical distri-bution in the period August 2015-July 2016.

AEROPORT 2015Aeroport (Horova 3) is a traditional fest hotspot. This year’s in-carnation is located in a former water bottling plant. Head theretonight for DJ Rafo + Disco Møreti, free for accredited guests, 50CZK for others. Things get started at 8pm. (GP) z

DAILIES1/ Richard Gere bids farewell to

the fest.

2/ The fest’s artistic consultant EvaZaoralová at the launch of herbook chronicling the history ofKVIFF, with Czech opera singerSoňa Červená.

3/ Girls just wanna have fun, butthese days a selfie stick is partof the deal.

1 2 3

Photo: Jan HandrejchPhoto: Jan HandrejchPhoto: KVIFF

Brian Kenety

Ukrainian-born director LarisaShepitko, an icon of 1960s and ‘70sSoviet cinema, died in 1979 while scout-ing locations near Leningrad, in a car ac-cident that also claimed the lives of fourcrew members working on a film she didnot live to finish, based on the novelFarewell to Matyora. She was 41.

Soviet montage theory pioneerAlexander Dovzhenko, her tutor at the fa-bled VGIK state film school in Moscow,had infused in Shepitko not only his pas-sion for poetic documentary-style realismbut also his motto: “You must approacheach film as if it were your last.” Andthough she only made four features, eachwas exceptional.

The Ascent (1976), which would beShepitko’s final film and magnum opus,won the Golden Bear and three otherawards at the Berlinale. Like the VasilBykov novel Sotnikov upon which it isbased, the film is a gut-wrenching storyof betrayal and martyrdom that increas-ingly parallels the story of Christ andJudas. Set in German-occupied Belarus,it centers on two captured Soviet soldierswho are tortured by the Gestapo; one suc-cumbs under interrogation by a Russiancollaborator and divulges damning infor-mation.

“No photograph, or portfolio of photo-graphs, can unfold, go further, and furtherstill, as does The Ascent ... the most af-fecting film about the horror of war Iknow,” wrote the American writer andfilmmaker Susan Sontag, one of the mostinfluential critics of her generation, in heressay “Looking at War: Photography’sView of Devastation and Death.”

At the time of Shepitko’s death,though, the international scene was stillonly just becoming aware of her geniusfor drama, already so strikingly evident inher diploma film, Heat (1963), whichshared the prize for best debut at the 14thKVIFF. Set in the arid steppes of the thenSoviet republic of Kirghizia (nowKyrgyzstan), its leitmotif is the majestic,melancholic beauty of the harsh land –shot by Shepitko in a style evocative ofher mentor’s (though she favored longtakes over the rapid cuts of montage the-orists).

Shepitko’s heroes often find themselvesat crossroads, as in her penultimate film,You and I (1971), a critical reflection ontwo comfortable yet frustrated doctors,each iconic of the Soviet intelligentsia,struggling to remain true to their idealsand searching for meaning. “From thevery start of her filmmaking career, sheset herself demanding tasks, choosing tosubject herself to scrutiny through the ac-tions of her contemporaries,” observesfilm historian Zdena Škapová, who wrotethe Tribute to Larisa Shepitko sectionof the KVIFF catalogue. “[You and I] re-flects her belief that a person never stopssearching for life’s purpose.”

Already in her student film Heat,though, she showed an astonishing talentfor capturing characters’ unspoken innerdialogue – an art form that cannot betaught, and which she mastered. StevenGaydos, vice president and executive ed-

itor of Variety, says the artistry and sensi-bility that Shepitko proved capable of atsuch a young age is remarkable, andrarely seen in modern films.

“The basic competency of a 22-year-old Ukrainian filmmaker in 1963 scaresme a little bit because it feels like peoplehave forgotten the basics,” he says. “Hergrasp of filmmaking language – the toolsof cinematography, lighting, writing, act-ing – her ability to put the story togetherwhen she was a student... I’m a little nos-talgic for that kind of classic command ofthe basics. And the end result is a film thatlasts. It’s a film that still moves you.”

Farewell to LarisaBecause Shepitko had fallen seriously

ill on the set of Heat, she had to ask herfellow VGIK student, Elem Klimov – atthe time, one of many would-be suitors –for help in finishing the film; nearly 20

years later, a celebrated filmmaker in hisown right, he would also be compelled tocomplete Farewell (finished in 1981, re-leased in 1983). It was based onShepitko’s adaptation of ValentinRasputin’s 1976 novel about a Siberianvillage that will be razed to make way fora new dam, and its people shipped off toa bleak housing project.

Klimov took up the Farewell project af-ter shooting Larisa, a half-hour tribute tothe woman renowned for her sharp intel-lect – and her striking, exotic beauty –who had agreed to become his wife onlyafter Klimov vowed that he would nevertry to influence her work.

Shepitko – who due to her untimelydeath is often referred to as “the unfin-ished one” – had inherited her dark eyesand high cheekbones from her father, aPersian officer who divorced her mother,a schoolteacher in Ukraine, and left her to

raise their three children alone. The senseof abandonment but also injustice that shemust have felt is perhaps behind theprevalence of themes of isolation that runthrough much of her work, which featurecharacters of strong moral fiber facingdown the powers that be.

Her first feature after graduation,Wings (1966), a complex character studyof a woman who served as a fighter pilotduring World War II but then must laterreconcile herself to life as the head-mistress of a school, is Shepitko’s best-known film after The Ascent. Both arerich in moral ambiguity and spiritual un-dercurrents, and, free from the oppressiveSocialist Realism style imposed on herteachers, also free to explore existentialangst even in a socialist paradise (in thecase of Wings, of a woman who, havingoutlived her own legend, loses her way).

“The primary tone of Wings is one ofambivalence – about Russia’s Stalinistpast and unsure future – and though itmay seem surprising today, the filmsparked much public debate, both for ac-knowledging a generation gap and forpainting a war hero as a forgotten, lostsoul,” writes Michael Koresky, for an ar-ticle on the website of the CriterionCollection, which issued a box set ofWings and The Ascent. “Still, Wings re-mains most effective as a finely detailedportrait of a woman looking back wist-fully, made by another woman, full ofpromise, just looking ahead.”

Shepitko’s next film, The Beginning ofan Unknown Era (1967), was an om-nibus commissioned for the 50th anniver-sary of the October Revolution of whichshe directed one part (The Homeland ofElectricity). She never saw it on the silverscreen; the planned third part was notfilmed, and the others shelved for twodecades, banned by Brezhnev-era censorswho found them to have insufficientlyglorified the early days of communism.

“The banning of Beginning depressedShepitko,” film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh wrote in The Guardian, calling itthe filmmaker’s first real loss to censor-ship. “However, her primary concern asan artist was not political protest, but themore intimate exploration of the individ-ual in society, struggling with that eter-nal question: ‘Why do we live?’” z

LARISA SHEPITKO – THE ‘UNFINISHED ONE’

Larisa Shepitko’s The Ascent won a Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1977 and was praised volubly by Susan Sontag.

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o: K

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The Diana Restaurant, high in the hills above Karlovy Vary

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