Well, two quick fun unrelated-to-this-post facts: I am currently sitting in Starbucks for the first time in close to six months (my last U.S. visit) and I am currently drinking a grande (couldn't bring myself to supersize) Frappuccino for the first time in over a year. Sometimes a man must remind himself he's American, and sometimes McDonald's is a tad too much.
Caloric intake aside, in this blog post I would like to share a little bit about my time at the 51st annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). This festival is one of the more well-known film festivals in Europe and, though it certainly is not of the Cannes or maybe Venice caliber, it does boast a slew of A-grade films, meaning films that are considered top-tier, have big-name actors, or will be released later in international theaters.
Karlovy Vary, or Carlsbad, as may ring a bell to English readers, is situated in the northwest of the Czech Republic and is a spa town, known for its natural springs. It is also the site of Becherovka headquarters and museum. Becherovka is a classic Czech alcohol in the realm of herbal bitters, often drunk as a digestive. Becherovka, named after Jan Becher, founder of the company, is nicknamed "The Fourteenth Spring" of Karlovy Vary. The other thirteen more traditional springs are located throughout the town in various spas, public spaces, and small fountains from which one is allowed to collect some of the supposed healthy and undoubtedly mineral-rich liquid. One of the locations which makes use of the spa image is the enormous and iconic Hotel Thermal, which was actually built for KVIFF and is the central venue throughout the film festival, home to one 'conference hall'/theater room holding 2,000 seats.
The festival itself was an absolute blast! The energy and atmosphere was fantastic and the film-watching was a ton of fun. There were a total of close to a hundred different films in a variety of different 'genres' or 'categories' that the festival had created. For example: the Main Competition, East of the West and Critics' Variety Choice. I went with Vendula, a veteran KVIFF attender and film-watcher, with a quota of minimum five films a day. Due to a variety of complications and unforeseen obstacles, during the four days we spent at the festival, we were only able to see about 18 films...a result chalked up as an overwhelming success by the both of us in the end, all quotas aside! I will share two of my favorite films, in the event that any of you may have a chance to see either of them:
1. Paterson - set in Paterson, New Jersey, this film explores one week in the life of a poet and bus driver. Brilliant mix of simplicity, reflection, humor and the beauty of day-to-day life
2. Eagle Huntress - set in Mongolia, this film is a documentary about a 13-year-old girl who becomes the first female 'Eagle Hunter' ever. Eagle hunters are used during the Mongolian winter to catch game for food and clothes and train giant golden eagles, hunting in tandem with them
Caloric intake aside, in this blog post I would like to share a little bit about my time at the 51st annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). This festival is one of the more well-known film festivals in Europe and, though it certainly is not of the Cannes or maybe Venice caliber, it does boast a slew of A-grade films, meaning films that are considered top-tier, have big-name actors, or will be released later in international theaters.
Karlovy Vary, or Carlsbad, as may ring a bell to English readers, is situated in the northwest of the Czech Republic and is a spa town, known for its natural springs. It is also the site of Becherovka headquarters and museum. Becherovka is a classic Czech alcohol in the realm of herbal bitters, often drunk as a digestive. Becherovka, named after Jan Becher, founder of the company, is nicknamed "The Fourteenth Spring" of Karlovy Vary. The other thirteen more traditional springs are located throughout the town in various spas, public spaces, and small fountains from which one is allowed to collect some of the supposed healthy and undoubtedly mineral-rich liquid. One of the locations which makes use of the spa image is the enormous and iconic Hotel Thermal, which was actually built for KVIFF and is the central venue throughout the film festival, home to one 'conference hall'/theater room holding 2,000 seats.
The festival itself was an absolute blast! The energy and atmosphere was fantastic and the film-watching was a ton of fun. There were a total of close to a hundred different films in a variety of different 'genres' or 'categories' that the festival had created. For example: the Main Competition, East of the West and Critics' Variety Choice. I went with Vendula, a veteran KVIFF attender and film-watcher, with a quota of minimum five films a day. Due to a variety of complications and unforeseen obstacles, during the four days we spent at the festival, we were only able to see about 18 films...a result chalked up as an overwhelming success by the both of us in the end, all quotas aside! I will share two of my favorite films, in the event that any of you may have a chance to see either of them:
1. Paterson - set in Paterson, New Jersey, this film explores one week in the life of a poet and bus driver. Brilliant mix of simplicity, reflection, humor and the beauty of day-to-day life
2. Eagle Huntress - set in Mongolia, this film is a documentary about a 13-year-old girl who becomes the first female 'Eagle Hunter' ever. Eagle hunters are used during the Mongolian winter to catch game for food and clothes and train giant golden eagles, hunting in tandem with them
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| The front entrance to Hotel Thermal and the Big Theater. Also the site of the red carpet entrances of the VIPs |
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| Everyday a KVIFF paper went out with information on all of the following day's films and different special events, reviews, and trivia |
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| Karlovy Vary has two faces: the first is of those interested in films trying to cram as many in as possible during their time at the festival. The second is those who go to the festival only for the party atmosphere that is very much present. This poor fellow got stuck with the first crowd the night before... |
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| This is a 50/50 situation. It is common for festival-goers to camp out and wait for tickets in the morning. However, this guy isn't near any ticket line, so it's really a tossup when it comes to grouping him |
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| The Becherovka museum. This is what the original iconic green bottle looks like. They now distill 4 varieties, plus an Ice and Fire limited edition which they suckered the New Mexican in me into buying. It starts with a mint taste before ending in a spicy chile bite |
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| What we can only imagine Mr. Becher and the boys looked like while solving life problems back in the day |
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| The colonnade of the spa building downtown that is home to many of the springs from which you can fill your water bottle or other container |
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| Sandman plus typical Karlovy Vary architecture in the background |
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| Edited image Two children with their festival booty playing by Karlovy Vary's version of Old Faithful |
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| Actor Willem Dafoe was one of the VIPs at this year's festival. Each year the festival tries to bring one really big-name international actor/actress, and have been impressively successful if you look at a list of past attendees |
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| The theme of this year's festival, hinting at how cameras and technology affect us. It was meant to have an 'anti-selfie' theme somehow. If you look at the official art and photos (such as the one in the photo further up on the side of the wall) you will see that they consist of people hiding their faces from the camera |
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| Just playing with the new camera. This is a fountain downtown with an anonymous couple walking behind it. |
