The 2017 edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a little more than a week away, and just yesterday festival organizers announced two more big names that are headed to the Czech spa town this year.
Academy Award-nominated actress Uma Thurman, famed for her roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, among many others, will be on hand to open the fest next Friday, June 30.
Thurman will be a part of the gala opening ceremony at Karlovy Vary festival headquarters Hotel Thermal, where she will be awarded the Festival President’s Award from fest president Jiří Bartoška.
Avengers star Jeremy Renner will be on hand to close out the festival the following week. The actor, twice nominated for an Academy Award for his work in The Hurt Locker and The Town, will take part in the festival’s closing ceremony on July 8, where he too will receive the Festival President’s Award.
Renner will also present his latest film during the festival. Wind River, a crime thriller from director Taylor Sheridan, played to acclaim at this year’s film festivals in Cannes and Sundance.
“I am thrilled that Jeremy Renner will be accepting an award at this year’s Karlovy Vary festival,” Bartoška said through a press release.
“Jeremy is an actor with a highly diverse filmography that includes both audience favourites as well as critically acclaimed films. One example is Wind River, which recently won the Prize for Best Direction in the Un Certain Regard competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and which Jeremy Renner will present at Karlovy Vary in person.”
This won’t be Renner’s first journey to the Czech Republic in recent years. Knightfall, a new TV series from the star’s production company, began shooting at Barrandov Studios and throughout the country last year with Renner on hand to take part in filming.
Other guests at this year’s festival presenting their films include US director Trudie Styler (Freak Show), Italian actress Jasmine Trinca (Fortunata), British director Mark Cousins (Stockholm, My Love), and Ukrainian director Sergej Loznitsa (Austerlitz).
Last week, the organizers announced the full lineup of films screening at the 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Film critic Leonard Maltin, famed for his indispensable annual Movie Guide that featured tens of thousands of capsule reviews for films on the home video market, will also be attending this year’s festival.
The special guests announced this week join an impressive roster for this year’s fest that includes British director Ken Loach, American composer James Newton Howard, and Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck, who will present his latest film A Ghost Story at the festival.
Lead photo via KVIFF; Uma Thurman by Peter Lindbergh, Jeremy Renner by Sarah Dunn
