As the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival prepares for its 59th edition this July, organizers have announced a wide-ranging official selection featuring both world premieres and international highlights. Films from across Europe, the Americas, and Asia will screen in the Crystal Globe and Proxima competitions, underscoring the Czech festival’s ongoing role as a key showcase for independent cinema.
The lineup includes Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding (pictured at top), starring Josh O’Connor (Challengers), which makes its international premiere in the Crystal Globe competition, and Paul Andrew Williams’ Dragonfly, featuring Andrea Riseborough, among special screenings. A final title from Iran competing for the Crystal Globe remains unnamed due to security concerns.
Crystal Globe competition blends global vision with regional strength
The main competition section at Karlovy Vary—the Crystal Globe Competition—features 12 films, 9 of them world premieres and 2 international premieres. Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding, which debuted at Sundance, will screen internationally for the first time. The film stars O’Connor as a rancher trying to rebuild his life after a wildfire.
Other highlights in the Crystal Globe competition include Spanish filmmaker Pere Vilà Barceló’s When a River Becomes the Sea, a drama set in the Catalan countryside, Jimmy Jaguar, a tense and atmospheric character study from Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf. The Luminous Life from João Rosas (Portugal) tells a coming-of-age story set between Lisbon and the countryside, and Out of Love, the latest feature from French director Nathan Ambrosioni, portraying the emotional complexities of a large foster family.
Czech and Slovak voices are well represented. Ondřej Provazník’s Broken Voices tells the story of a 13-year-old girl on the verge of joining an elite choir—an intense psychological drama that explores power, mentorship, and ambition. Better Go Mad in the Wild, a Czech-Slovak documentary by Miro Remo, explores unconventional lives on the fringes of society.
“Answering exclusively to their artistic integrity, the filmmakers who have accepted the invitation to premiere their brand new works in Karlovy Vary fearlessly protect the right to challenge expectations, to disrupt stereotypes, and to win over hearts and minds with equal intensity,” says KVIFF artistic director Karel Och.
“Disregarding budgetary constraints, these filmmakers from countries, such as Bangladesh, Lithuania, Norway, and Colombia, push the boundaries while keeping in mind the necessary connection between a film and its audience.”
The 12th film in competition, from Iran, will be announced closer to the festival’s July 4–12 run, with the delay attributed to “the safety of its makers,” according to Och.
2025 KVIFF Crystal Globe Competition
- Better Go Mad in the Wild (Miro Remo, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic)
- Broken Voices (Ondřej Provazník, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic)
- Cinema Jazireh (Gözde Kural, Turkey/Iran/Bulgaria/Romania)
- Divia (Dmytro Hreshko, Poland/Ukraine/Netherlands/USA)
- Don’t Call Me Mama (Nina Knag, Norway)
- Jimmy Jaguar (Bence Fliegauf, Hungary)
- The Luminous Life (João Rosas, Portugal/France)
- Out of Love (Nathan Ambrosioni, France)
- Rebuilding (Max Walker-Silverman, USA)
- The Visitor (Vytautas Katkus, Lithuania/Norway/Sweden)
- When a River Becomes the Sea (Pere Vilà Barceló, Spain)
The Crystal Globe jury at the 2025 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival includes Mexican producer Nicolás Celis (Roma); Iranian-born filmmaker Babak Jalali, whose Fremont won Best Director at KVIFF 2023; and Jessica Kiang, an influential film critic and Berlinale selection committee member. Czech actor-director Jiří Mádl, whose Waves won the KVIFF Audience Award in 2024, joins the jury alongside Swedish-Norwegian actress and filmmaker Tuva Novotny.
Special Screenings include Czech and international premieres
Among the films featured in this year’s Special Screenings selection is Paul Andrew Williams’ Dragonfly, starring Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn, which will be presented in the festival’s Special Screenings section. Riseborough plays a woman who begins caring for her neighbor under possibly questionable motives, continuing the actor’s exploration of morally ambiguous characters.
From the Middle East, All That’s Left of You, directed by Cherien Dabis, presents a deeply personal exploration of grief, memory and identity, spanning multiple countries including Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus. Also presented are A Second Life, a French psychological drama by Laurent Slama, and Tehran Another View, a visually striking urban portrait by Iranian director Ali Behrad.
Closer to home, several Czech and Slovak co-productions feature prominently. Zuzana Kirchnerová’s Caravan, which comes to Karlovy Vary after premiering at Cannes, follows a group of people living on society’s margins as they navigate the harsh realities of life on the road, while Katarína Gramatová’s Promise, I’ll Be Fine captures the tensions between freedom and responsibility in the life of a young woman re-entering society.
Dužan Duong’s Summer School, 2001 is a partly autobiographical account of growing up between cultures in the early 2000s Czech Republic, and The Czech Film Project, co-directed by Marek Novák and Mikuláš Novotný, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges facing contemporary Czech cinema.
2025 KVIFF Special Screenings
- All That’s Left of You (Cherien Dabis, Germany/Cyprus/Palestine/Jordan/Greece/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)
- Caravan (Zuzana Kirchnerová, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic/Italy)
- The Czech Film Project (Marek Novák, Mikuláš Novotný, Czech Republic)
- Dragonfly (Paul Andrew Williams, United Kingdom)
- Duchoň (Peter Bebjak, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic)
- Promise, I’ll Be Fine (Katarína Gramatová, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic)
- A Second Life (Laurent Slama, France)
- Summer School, 2001 (Dužan Duong, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic)
- Tehran Another View (Ali Behrad, Iran/United Kingdom)
Proxima competition and tributes reflect the festival’s evolving identity
Now in its fourth year, the Proxima competition continues to emphasize bold storytelling from emerging directors and seasoned independents. Thirteen films are included in this section, with twelve world premieres and one international premiere.
Titles range from The Anatomy of the Horses by Daniel Vidal Toche—a Spanish-Peruvian-French co-production—to Renovation by Gabrielė Urbonaitė, a Lithuanian-Latvian-Belgian film. Several Czech and Slovak filmmakers are also represented, including Vojtěch Strakatý’s The Other Side of Summer and Paula Ďurinová’s Action Item.
2025 KVIFF Proxima Competition
- Action Item (Paula Ďurinová, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic/Germany)
- The Anatomy of the Horses (Daniel Vidal Toche, Spain/Peru/Colombia/France)
- Before/After (Manoël Dupont, Belgium)
- Forensics (Federico Atehortúa Arteaga, Colombia)
- Future Future (Davi Pretto, Brazil)
- How Come It’s All Green Out Here? (Nikola Ležaić, Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria)
- The Other Side of Summer (Vojtěch Strakatý, Czech Republic/Croatia)
- Rain Fell On the Nothing New (Steffen Goldkamp, Germany)
- Renovation (Gabrielė Urbonaitė, Lithuania/Latvia/Belgium)
- Sand City (Mahde Hasan, Bangladesh)
- TrepaNation (Ammar al-Beik, Syria/Germany/France)
- They Come Out of Margo (Alexandros Voulgaris, Greece)
- Thus Spoke the Wind (Maria Rigel, Armenia)
The Proxima jury includes producers and filmmakers from Indonesia, Romania, and the Dominican Republic, alongside Czech screenwriter Jakub Felcman and U.S. talent agent Marissa Frobes.
Outside the competition, the festival continues its tradition of honoring film history. A retrospective of 1940s Hollywood star John Garfield will include eight of his most influential films, such as The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body and Soul.
This year’s President’s Award will go to Czech editor Jiří Brožek for his contribution to national cinema. The festival will also present a digital restoration premiere of Jaroslav Papoušek’s 1969 comedy Ecce Homo Homolka, reaffirming its commitment to Czech film heritage.
Additional programming and honorees are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will take place July 4–12 in the historic spa town, marking the first edition since the death of longtime president Jiří Bartoška in May.
