From July 4 to 12, the town of Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) will host the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The main competition section- the Crystal Globe Competition- features 12 films, 9 of them world premieres. Bulgaria is represented with two co-produced films, in partnership with Turkiye and Serbia.

One of the films is "Cinema Jazireh" by Turkish director Gözde Kural, set in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. The film is a co-production between Turkiye, Iran, Bulgaria and Romania. Bulgarian Svetla Tsotsorkova is the co-producer. Thirteen films are included in the Proxima competition. One of them is the co-production "How Come It Is Green Out There?" — a collaboration between Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria. The story takes us into the everyday life of a director who is dissatisfied with his career and decides to leave with his family. During the journey, he discovers new things about his parents and his family.

Bulgarian films have won the Crystal Globe twice in the past five years. In 2019, "The Father" by directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov won the Crystal Globe. In 2023, Stephan Komandarev’s "Blaga’s Lessons" won the Crystal Globe Grand Prix. Bulgarian actress Eli Skorcheva earned the Best Actress Award.

Published and translated by Kostadin Atanasov

Photos: Facebook /Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, nfc.bg