“Don’t move, let me hear you,” says Jiří Bartoška towards Mark Eben before the invitation begins to be filmed. The addressee sits in the middle of the Great Hall and receives the rebuke with a smile. The fact that they both met in Vary is considered a success at the time of the coronavirus. And they hope that as many people as possible will come to the Czech cinemas at the Tady Vary event.
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Jiří Bartoška director of the Karlovy Vary IFF and traditional event moderator Marek Eben.
Why are we here today, in the Great Hall of the Thermal Hotel, Mr. Bartoško?
Why are we here today? Because we shade a big festival. The big festival, the 55th year, was to begin on July 3 and end on July 11. Today, July 3, is not the 55th year, but we still have the appendix 54. In April, we decided that the festival did not make sense, under the conditions that had been set, to make it devalue the brand. At the same time, a lot of work was done, mainly from the program department.
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Jiří Bartoška and Marek Eben at the filming of greetings on the morning of July 3.
Photo: Jan Handrejch, Law
So we thought, why not use it. We asked the filmmakers if they would be interested in doing such a small event there. We anticipated that if there were forty of them, it would be a success. In the final, 96 of them entered. They even called from Trenčín if they could participate.
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How many movies will Vary play here?
There are sixteen titles, three European premieres, one world. He will run all over the republic. In 96 cinemas, people will see films that would probably not be included in the regular distribution … Every day they will see two different films. And I said that if only thirteen people came to each cinema hall, if we multiply it by 96, it would represent the crowded Great Hall in the Karlovy Vary Thermal.
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Jiří Bartoška director of the Karlovy Vary IFF: about fear of cinema, drapes and Trenčín
What movie will you go to?
Definitely to Meky Šimon Šafránek. There I even go to the bear (bowing to the audience – editor’s note), in the delegation. It’s the eighth of July. I recommend the film to everyone. It starts and you start smiling. It’s over and you’re still smiling. I recommend it to everyone. Then we go to Brno on July 9 for a bear and I go to Jihlava on the 10th. And it is true that in Vary, when there is a big festival, you can’t keep up with all this.
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How many of the sixteen movies have you seen?
Officially not one. This belongs only to the artistic director Karel Och and his people. They function as an independent department that decides for itself what to choose for the festival. And God, there’s no one else to interfere with their choices.
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The virtual year of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was ceremoniously opened on July 3, 2020 in the Thermal Hotel in Karlovy Vary. Pictured from left are Marek Eben, Jiří Bartoška and Kryštof Mucha.
Photo: Jan Handrejch, Law
So you make a bear in those cinemas and sit in the halls and enjoy watching movies in peace?
Yes. In the case of Meky, however, I will look at the film a second time, because for the first time I saw it projected on the wall of Meky’s house in the garden, where he released everything for his friends. I will finally see everything on the big screen. And I don’t even know what movie I’m going to Brno to do, but I’ll watch it too.
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Jiří Bartoška director of the Karlovy Vary IFF and Marek Eben.
When I return to Trenčín. Could they have joined the Tady Vary event?
We can’t take him. Distributors give us the right to screen a film in a certain area. And Slovaks are unfortunately another state. We would like to meet Trenčín, but it is not possible. There would be a lot of paperwork around it, and I don’t think it would be enough to do it even from this administrative point of view. But the fact that the Slovaks know that the Slovaks would like to take part in it pleased us.
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Jiří Bartoška and Marek Eben claim that this year the traditional KV IFF award belongs mainly to spectators and cinemas, who will take part in the Tady Vary event.
Photo: Jan Handrejch, Law
The audience doesn’t go to the cinemas much yet, they sit there in veils. Do you think you can break this?
We have no ambition to break anything. But the truth is, people don’t really go to the movies. Even though now I was at a show that was completely packed. At Slaughterhouse 78, at La Putyca … But that fear is in the people. They planted fear in people. And how will it be released? We’ll see. In Vary, three hundred tickets were sold for Saturday’s performance, which is a huge success. I’m talking about online sales, some people go to the cinema by going straight to the box office and buying a ticket. This number is not final.
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Jiří Bartoška at the filming of greetings for the Tady Vary event.
Photo: Jan Handrejch, Law
The festival also includes promotional items. Do you have them this year as well?
We have. Every city has its own mug. Even each cinema has its own name, if you finish your tea or coffee, you will find out you are in Scale, ie in Brno. And we have t-shirts that people can buy. They are wearing the name of the Tady Vary event and at the back a list of cinemas that took part in it.
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Poll
Were you at the cinema after the quarantine was released?
No, I’ll wait until he removes the mandatory veils
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A total of 462 readers voted.
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