The 12th annual Noir Film Festival returns to the majestic confines of Český Šternberk Castle this weekend, running from August 22-25. This year’s program includes a special focus on tech-noir that includes screenings of multiple versions of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, nicely timed as cameras roll on the new Prime Video series Blade Runner 2099 in Prague through the end of the year.
Nestled within the dramatic gothic walls of Český Šternberk Castle, the festival’s atmospheric location adds a unique edge to the viewing experience. The tech-noir section includes iconic films such as Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner, which will screen in both its original 1982 theatrical version alongside a 2007 ‘final cut’, giving audiences a rare chance to compare both versions on the big screen. Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca, James Cameron’s original The Terminator, and Kathryn Bigelow‘s Strange Days will also screen as part of the festival focus on tech-noir.
This futuristic sub-genre, known for blending film noir’s shadowy aesthetics with dystopian worlds shaped by advanced technologies, serves as a compelling homage to the traditional noir style that has influenced cinema for decades. Given that the original Blade Runner was set in 2019, this year’s Noir Film Festival offers a rare opportunity to reflect on how these films’ once-bleak predictions stack up against our current reality.
Desert Noir and No Country for Old Men
Another highlight of this year’s Noir Film Festival is the Desert Noir section, which transports the gritty noir aesthetic from urban streets to the barren and desolate settings of the American Southwest. This subgenre embraces a stark, unforgiving landscape that mirrors the internal struggles of its characters. Films like the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men, the Nicolas Cage-starring neo noir Red Rock West, Desert Fury, and Wim Wenders‘ Paris, Texas showcase this unique take on noir, where the desolation of the desert serves as both a backdrop and metaphor for the moral ambiguity and existential crises faced by the characters.
Inspired by the music of the band Still Corners, whose work is often described as “desert noir,” this section promises a haunting yet beautiful exploration of crime, fate, and isolation. Audiences can expect to see the psychological tension of traditional noir played out against vast, open landscapes that feel as suffocating as the dimly lit back alleys of urban noir.
Tributes to Kim Novak and Edward G. Robinson
In keeping with tradition, the Noir Film Festival also pays tribute to two iconic actors whose performances left a lasting mark on film noir. This year’s honorees are Kim Novak and Edward G. Robinson.
Kim Novak, an actress of Czech heritage whose career was brief yet impactful, is perhaps best known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. At the Noir Film Festival, she will be celebrated through a special screening of Pushover, her film debut, where she plays a seductive femme fatale who leads a police detective astray.
Edward G. Robinson, meanwhile, was a defining figure in both the gangster genre and film noir. His role as a ruthless criminal in Little Caesar paved the way for many more iconic performances in noir classics like Double Indemnity and Scarlet Street. The festival will honor Robinson with a screening of House of Strangers, where he plays a complex patriarch struggling with the dysfunctional relationships in his family.
Noir Through the Eyes of Women
The Murder, She Wrote section at the Noir Film Festival challenges the common misconception that noir is an exclusively male domain. Highlighting the work of female authors like Vera Caspary, Ethel Lina White, and Dorothy B. Hughes, this section delves into adaptations of their novels, such as Caspary’s Laura and White’s The Spiral Staircase. These films emphasize that the noir genre owes much of its complexity and richness to the contributions of women, both as screenwriters and novelists.
Czech and Polish Noir
The 2024 Noir Film Festival shines a spotlight on Czechoslovak and Polish noir films, offering a glimpse into the region’s distinct noir traditions. The Czechoslovak Noir section features The Plain Old Maid (Ztracená tvář) by Miroslav Hubáček, a rare psychological drama that blends suspense and moral ambiguity. The festival will also celebrate the film through its debut DVD release.
The Noir Film Festival will also present English-subtitled screenings of under-seen Czech films like 105% Alibi, a crime film centered around a pair of investigators solving a murder mystery, and The Avenger (Mstitel), a dark tale of revenge set against the backdrop of pre-World War I Prague.
A Polish Noir section brings a mix of classic and underrepresented films to the festival, including Roman Polanski’s psychological thriller Knife in the Water and Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s suspenseful Night Train. The program also includes Pigs, a crime drama set during a time of political transformation in Poland, and the rarely-seen The Criminal Who Stole a Crime. The above films are each screening with both Czech and English subtitles at this year’s festival.
Phil Karlson Retrospective
This year’s Noir Film Festival will also feature a retrospective of the work of Phil Karlson, a towering figure in the world of 1950s film noir. Known for his gritty, uncompromising style and his focus on the individual’s fight against corrupt institutions, Karlson’s films—such as Kansas City Confidential and 99 River Street—will offer audiences a chance to explore a director whose impact on the genre remains significant.
Film Noir in a Czech Castle
The Noir Film Festival is an annual showcase of film noir, a specific phenomenon across world cinema that originated with American crime movies that emphasized cynical attitudes and motivations not seen in mainstream films of the time. The festival features a variety of classic film noir from Hollywood’s 1940s and 1950s studio era, alongside modern interpretations across global cinema.
The setting, a medieval castle turned into a cinematic retreat, offers a special allure to cinephiles attending the Noir Film Festival. Originating in 2013 at Kokořín Castle, with subsequent editions taking place at Křivoklát Castle, the festival has since found its home at Český Šternberk Castle since 2021. With screenings held in the castle’s atmospheric interiors, visitors can enjoy a diverse program ranging from American, British, and Polish noir to rare Czechoslovak films in a unique environment.
Lead photo: Noir Film Festival 2022 via Facebook / Noir Film Festival
