The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced several prominent guests for its 59th edition, including actors Peter Sarsgaard, Vicky Krieps, Dakota Johnson, and Stellan Skarsgård. Johnson, Sarsgaard, and Krieps will each be honored with the Festival President’s Award, while Skarsgård is set to receive the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema.
Sarsgaard will be honored at this year’s opening ceremony with the KVIFF President’s Award, recognizing his decades-long career portraying psychologically layered and morally ambiguous characters across film, television, and theater. In tribute, the festival will screen Shattered Glass (2003), Billy Ray’s journalism drama about a disgraced reporter, in which Sarsgaard starred opposite Hayden Christensen.
Sarsgaard from stage to screen
Sarsgaard has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival for Memory (2023), where he played a man navigating emotional trauma opposite Jessica Chastain. In 2021, he appeared in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante, a film that earned Oscar nominations and Gotham Awards recognition.
His performance in Dopesick (2021), a miniseries chronicling America’s opioid crisis, earned him an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The series, based on the nonfiction bestseller by Beth Macy, starred Michael Keaton and Michael Stuhlbarg and was praised for its unflinching portrayal of the pharmaceutical industry’s role in the epidemic.
Sarsgaard’s versatility has made him a recurring presence at international festivals. His latest film, September 5, premiered at Venice and screened at Telluride. Directed by Tim Fehlbaum, the historical drama focuses on the American media’s coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. Sarsgaard plays a lead role alongside John Magaro and Ben Chaplin. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama earlier this year.
Sarsgaard first gained critical attention with his performance in Boys Don’t Cry (1999), portraying John Lotter in the real-life story of Brandon Teena. He followed this with a series of acclaimed roles in films such as Kinsey, Jarhead, An Education, and Jackie, where he portrayed Robert F. Kennedy opposite Natalie Portman.
Television and streaming platforms have also showcased Sarsgaard’s range. In 2024, he appeared as prosecutor Tommy Molto in the Apple TV+ legal thriller Presumed Innocent, adapted from Scott Turow’s novel. The series, created by David E. Kelley, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Renate Reinsve.
Later this year, Sarsgaard will appear in Warner Bros.’ The Bride!, directed by his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film reimagines the Frankenstein myth in 1930s Chicago and stars Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley.
Beyond the screen, Sarsgaard has maintained a notable presence on the stage. His theater career includes roles in Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Three Sisters, the latter two performed alongside his wife. The off-Broadway production of Three Sisters earned nominations for both a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award.
Born in Illinois, Sarsgaard studied at Washington University in St. Louis and trained at the Actors’ Studio. He currently lives in Brooklyn with Gyllenhaal and their two children. His upcoming recognition at Karlovy Vary underscores his continuing influence as an actor known for depth, precision, and emotional range.
This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, its 59th, will take place from July 4 to 12. It will be the first festival held without longtime president Jiří Bartoška, who passed away last month. A tribute to Bartoška is planned during the festival with the screening of several films.
This year’s festival includes a wide range of screenings and events, from a newly restored print of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest introduced by actor Michael Douglas, to a retrospective of actor John Garfield, and the world premieres of new Czech films.
This year’s program also includes a new cinematic version of the Czech game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and several Czech and international filmmakers will present their latest works in person. Sarsgaard joins an expanding list of 2025 festival honorees, and his presence, alongside screenings of Shattered Glass and September 5, adds further depth to a festival that will also celebrate cinematic legacies and emerging voices in Czech and international cinema.
