Film Spa

The history of the Karlovy Vary IFF from its founding in 1946 and the first noncompetitive years to its 50th edition.

Filmová lázeň
Czechia 2015
  • Czech
79 min.
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About

This film presents the history of one of the world’s oldest film festivals, the Karlovy Vary IFF, which is only now marking its 50th edition due to the upheavals of the previous century. We return to 1946, the year the festival was launched in Mariánské Lázně as a non-competitive event whose film screenings were also held in Karlovy Vary. When the festival moved permanently to Vary it incorporated a feature film competition. From 1957 to 1968 coverage of the festival (which was forced to alternate with the Moscow IFF beginning in 1959) was provided by the outstanding on-site broadcasts known as “Moments,” hosted by Miroslav Horníček. Czech TV archives provided further footage of the fluctuating fortunes of a festival that was finally resurrected in 1994 with the arrival of its current management who made it what it is today – one of the most respected film festivals in Europe. The film is interwoven with interviews with former colleagues, contemporaries and historians.

Eva Zaoralová (2012)

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Credits
Director: Miroslav Janek
Screenplay: Miroslav Janek
Cinematography: Miroslav Janek
Sound: Vladimír Chrastil, Michael Míček, Vladimír Chrastil
Editing: Tonička Janková
Producer: Ondřej Zima, Vít Komrzý
Co-production: Helena Uldrichová, Martin Chalupský
Cast: Eva Zaoralová, Jiří Bartoška, Jiří Janoušek, Jan Adamec, Wolfgang Háma, Ladislav Kachtík, Olga Kachtíková, Jindřiška Bláhová, Jaroslav Weigel, Antonín J. Liehm, Milica Pechánková, Jan Svoboda, Tereza Brdečková, Miloš Fikejz, Aleš Danielis
Awards

Czech Lions

2015 – Miroslav Janek (Best Documentary)

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