The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced its main celebrity guests for the 2025 edition on Wednesday morning, revealing that American actress Dakota Johnson will attend to receive the Festival President’s Award. Johnson joins actors Vicky Krieps and Peter Sarsgaard as special guests at this year’s KVIFF who will receive a President’s Award. Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård will also attend the 59th edition of the festival to receive the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema.
Johnson’s appearance will include the Czech premiere of two new films in which she stars. The actress will be recognized for her artistic achievements in a ceremony preceding the premiere of Materialists (pictured at top) on July 6 in the festival’s main venue at Hotel Thermal.
A career shaped by legacy and bold choices
The daughter of actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren, Dakota Johnson has long been immersed in Hollywood. She made her on-screen debut at age ten in Crazy in Alabama, directed by Antonio Banderas. After graduating high school, Johnson pursued both modeling and acting, landing a small but notable role in David Fincher’s The Social Network. That ensemble performance earned recognition from several film critics associations, including at the Palm Springs Film Festival.
Her rise to international fame came with the lead role in the blockbuster Fifty Shades trilogy, beginning with Fifty Shades of Grey in 2015. Despite the polarizing reception of the films, Johnson’s performance brought her global attention and cemented her status as a household name. She balanced mainstream projects with more daring indie choices, including Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of Suspiria, for which she won a Robert Altman Award from the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
In 2016, she was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and since then has steadily expanded her range through roles in acclaimed literary adaptations such as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter (2021), based on the novel by Elena Ferrante, and Persuasion (2022), adapted from the Jane Austen’s novel. Both films demonstrated her interest in complex, emotionally resonant characters.
Johnson’s upcoming project, Verity (2026), a romance thriller from director Michael Showalter for Amazon, is expected to continue that trajectory.
Behind the camera and in the producer’s seat
In recent years, Johnson has also carved out a space as a producer and director. In 2019, she co-founded TeaTime Pictures with producing partner Ro Donnelly. Under that banner, she has developed and produced several films, including Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022), which premiered at Sundance, and Am I OK?, directed by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro. One of her most recent productions, Daddio (2023), co-starring Sean Penn, explores an intimate conversation between two strangers in a single setting — a departure from traditional cinematic storytelling.
Johnson has also ventured into directing. In addition to the music video Cry Cry Cry for Coldplay, she helmed the short film Loser Baby in 2023, further underscoring her interest in behind-the-camera work.
At Karlovy Vary, Johnson will present Splitsville, a romantic comedy directed by Michael Angelo Covino, which she also produced. The film promises a mix of emotional tension and humor, emblematic of her recent creative output. Her second film, Materialists, is directed by Celine Song (Past Lives) and explores a volatile love triangle. The film co-stars Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.
Johnson’s Festival President’s Award will be presented just before the screening of Materialists on July 6 at 10:30 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Hotel Thermal. The honor is given to actors, filmmakers, and producers whose work has significantly contributed to contemporary cinema. Johnson’s participation at KVIFF adds another high-profile name to a guest list that continues to reflect the festival’s growing reputation as Central Europe’s top cinema event.
This year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs from July 4-12. Other events at this year’s festival include a newly-restored print of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which will be personally introduced by actor Michael Douglas, an extensive tribute to Hollywood icon John Garfield, a cinematic cut of the Czech video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and the world premieres of several new Czech films.
