Bolek Polívka first entered the audience’s awareness as an original and unrepeatable personality of the author’s theater and co-founder of the legendary Brno scene Goose on a String. His productions, which he directed and played in them (Am and Ea, Pezza versus Čorba, Pépe, Trosečník, Poslední leč, Šašek and the Queen), were inspired by clowning, comedy dell’arte and film grotesque, but thanks to their specific expression and deliberately crossed the boundaries of the genre.
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It was the uniqueness and originality of these performances that earned him recognition abroad as well as cooperation with a number of leading international theater ensembles. In 1993, he founded the Bolek Polívka Theater, and as an actor he is also a guest on a number of stages outside his hometown of Brno.
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Bolek Polívka has been leaving a similarly strong mark in domestic film for decades. The first major film role was the character of Mageri in the musical Ballad for a Bandit (1978, dir. V. Sís). The collaboration with director Věra Chytilová, who began with the film Kalamita (1981) and eventually grew to five titles, plays a key role in his film production. Inheritance or Kurvahošigutentág (1992), which became a tragicomic parable of life in the early post-revolutionary period, even after years, shows how exactly the Polívka – Chytilová duo (co-authors of the screenplay) managed to name the social movements of the new era.
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Cult Heritage with Bolek Polívka
Photo: Czech Television
Their joint films include Polívek’s performances The Jester and the Queen (1987), Expulsion from Paradise (2001), where they again collaborated on the screenplay, and Nice Moments Without Guarantee (2006).
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Bolek Polívka’s extensive filmography also testifies to his stagnation between genres. Although viewers perceive him primarily as a comedian due to his roles in a number of successful comedies (eg Pelíšky, 1999; U mě dobrý, 2008; Men in Hope, 2011 and others), respect and awards earned him tasks outside this genre. For his role as a priest in Vladimír Michálek’s film The Forgotten Light (1996), he won the Czech Lion for Best Actor in a Leading Role and also an award in this category at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The Czech Lion for Best Actor in a Leading Role was also awarded for the film We Must Help Ourselves (dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2000), which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
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Pelíšky: Simona Stašová, Bolek Polívka and Stella Zázvorková
Photo: Profimedia.cz
The other seven nominations for the annual CFTA Czech Lion Awards are also proof of how diverse his work is – the bitter comedy Tomáš Vorl’s The Road from the City (2000), the humorous portrait of the totalitarian Pupendo (2003) by Jan Hřebejko, the harshly lyrical Happiness (2005) by Bohdan Sláma , Roming (2007) by Jiří Vejdělek, where he formed a charmingly disparate couple with Marián Labuda, the fantasy Angels of Everyday Life (2014) Alice Nellis, the remarkable debut of Slávek Horák’s Home Care (2015) or Jiří Strach’s fairy tale Angel of the Lord 2 (2016).
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He has also collaborated with many other directors repeatedly, whether it was Juraj Jakubisko (I’m sitting on a branch and I’m fine, 1989; Bathory, 2008), the aforementioned Tomáš Vorel (Cesta do lesa, 2012; Cesta domů, 2021) or FA Brabec ( Bouquet, 2000; In the duvet, 2011; Gump – a dog that taught people to live, 2021).
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Bolek Polívka regularly appears on television screens, where he has been presenting his own programs Manege and Bolkovina for many years, and he also appears in television series (Cases of the 1st Department).
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The Karlovy Vary Festival will present the film Forgotten Light as a tribute to Boleslav Polívek.
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Restored Prank by Milan Kundera
As part of the 56th year, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will continue the long tradition of premieres of classic Czech films that have been selected for digital restoration. Another major title of the Czechoslovak New Wave is being prepared for this year, a film adaptation of Milan Kundera’s novel The Joke, which was shot in 1968 by director Jaromil Jireš.
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The joke is a masterful film adaptation of a famous book that develops a grimly grotesque story about how an innocent student recession can fundamentally destroy human life if it takes place against the backdrop of totalitarian intolerance, fiddling and reporting.
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The main protagonist of the story, Ludvík Jahn, returns to his hometown after years to meet radio reporter Helena Zemánková. However, her interest in her is motivated mainly by the fact that Helena is the wife of Ludvík’s former classmate and best friend, who, however, literally destroyed his life and future on the basis of an innocent joke. The bitter Ludvík plans to carry out a late revenge through Helena, which ultimately proves to be a failure, and he feels even more embarrassed, poorer and lonely than when his friends once expelled him from the faculty at a party meeting.
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Milan Kundera in the picture from 2010.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Milan Kundera’s novel The Joke was published in 1967 and the writer, together with the director Jaromil Jireš, also participated in the creation of the film script. The film premiered in cinemas in early 1969, was awarded at the Czech and Slovak Film Festival in Sorrento, Italy, where it won the Silver Siren Award, and at the 17th IFF in San Sebastian. At the beginning of the normalization, it was placed in a vault and was not introduced at a number of international film festivals until 1989.
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The joke is a cinematically unpretentious translation of the main themes of Kundera’s novel. It carefully and drastically depicts how the period of communist terror in the 1950s managed to disrupt the lives of ordinary people and overturn the perception of ethical values.
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The digital restoration of the film The Joke was made with a financial donation from Milady and Eduard Kučerová at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at UPP and Soundsquare in cooperation with the National Film Archive and the State Cinematography Fund in 2022. The source for digitization was in the National Film Archive. In the case of the film The Joke, this is already the 23rd film that was digitally restored from the financial donations of the Kučer family.
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The Karlovy Vary Festival has long supported the presentation of digitally restored flagship films of domestic and world cinema as part of its program. He started the tradition in 2011, when he became the initiator of the project of digital restoration of Czech films and introduced the film Marketa Lazarová and gradually other titles of the Czech Film Fund as the first title. At the 55th KV IFF, a large retrospective of films restored by The Film Foundation took place, which was founded by Martin Scorsese with the aim of preserving and protecting works of world cinema.
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KVIFF talents
The organizers of the Karlovy Vary IFF are expanding their portfolio of activities aimed at the systematic support of filmmakers, which for many years have been represented by creative workshops or project presentations in the development stage associated under the festival label KVIFF Eastern Promises.
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A new activity this year is the pilot year of the KVIFF Talents project. The year-round program aims to find talented creators and support the creation of creative audiovisual projects with a high degree of originality and international ambition. The program will provide selected creators with funding for development, mentoring from experts and the opportunity to present the project at the Karlovy Vary IFF to potential producers, partners and investors. Applications for the current call are open until May 22.
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“Supporting new talent has always been a key part of the festival’s activities. With KVIFF Talents, we are moving this activity a little further again. We believe that the program will be another piece of the puzzle that will support a higher degree of originality, creative courage and international ambitions of creators from our region, “says Kryštof Mucha, Executive Director of the Karlovy Vary IFF.
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The KVIFF Talents project is divided into two parallel programs. The creative pool focuses on finding creative themes for an audiovisual work of any format or genre – such as a short film, web series, podcast, video clip or game concept. The goal of the Feature pool is to support ideas for original feature films, which have the potential to be created quickly and with a budget of up to five million crowns. Creators from the Czech Republic and Slovakia can apply for the pilot phase of the project, and it is planned to expand to the region of Central and Eastern Europe in the future.
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“A key characteristic of KVIFF Talents is the individual approach. We are aware that each project has different needs in the fragile phase of development, so we plan to tailor support to the creators, ”adds Mucha. In the current call, which is open until May 22, creators can submit their projects to the Creative Pool and Feature Pool programs. At the beginning of June, three creators will be selected from each program to receive the KVIFF Talents label.
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A presentation will then take place during the Karlovy Vary IFF, the aim of which will be to connect creators with potential producers, partners and investors. This step will start a long-term cooperation, which will include the provision of funds for project development, assistance with financing or mentoring in the development, production and distribution phases. Complete information about the project can be found at talents.kviff.com.
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Cooperation with Odessa
The Karlovy Vary Festival will support Ukrainian filmmakers and the local film industry through a unique collaboration with the Odessa International Film Festival (OIFF).
Unprecedented war aggression in Ukraine also results in a major reduction in cultural life. The Karlovy Vary Festival expresses its full support for Ukrainian filmmakers and festival organizers, and will therefore host the Works in Progress program of the 13th Odessa Film Festival, which cannot take place due to the war in Ukraine. It will take place at the Karlovy Vary festival under the name OIFF WIP Selection.
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“We are convinced that broad solidarity with the war in Ukraine must include support for its cultural life, which has almost stopped at the moment. As a film festival, we were therefore looking for ways to support Ukrainian cinema, and we are glad that together with the Odessa Film Festival we have managed to find a form of cooperation that makes sense, ”says Hugo Rosák, Head of Industry at the KV IFF.
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“The current wartime conditions in which Ukrainians find themselves have a direct impact on the film industry. That is why we received an offer from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to make the “Industry part” of the Odessa International Film Festival part of its industry program. We are extremely grateful to our Czech colleagues for giving us this opportunity. An opportunity to introduce Ukrainian cinema, talent and culture to the world, “said Anna Machuh, CEO of OIFF.
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The Works in Progress program is a presentation of feature films within the OIFF, which will be distributed in 2022–2023. The main goal of the program is to present Ukrainian films to the world and local markets, attract the attention of international distributors and also find partners for future projects.
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The OIFF selection committee will select 12 feature films that are in the final stage of production or post-production and that have been made in Ukraine or in co-production with Ukraine. Films must meet international quality standards in order to be screened in Works in Progress.
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Visual 56th IFF KV
The authors of the visual for the 56th KV IFF are Jonatan Kuna and Zuzana Lednická from Studio Najbrt.
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Visual of the Karlovy Vary festival
Photo: MFFKV
“This year’s poster of the festival is not only a black-and-white, but also a color illustration and a celebration of what we experience together every year at the beginning of summer at the Karlovy Vary colonnade between the Thermal and Pupp hotels. Find your Wally, but many other characters associated with the festival’s history, “say the authors.
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Studio Najbrt’s exhibition will present a 28-year collaboration with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The selection of many forms of individual years will be presented mainly by posters, printed matter, but also by many other objects that are created for the festival every year. The works of Aleš Najbrt, Zuzana Lednická, Marek Pistora, Jakub Spurný and several other designers will be exhibited in the Art Gallery in Karlovy Vary.
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People next door
For the sixth year in a row, the Karlovy Vary Festival will present a film section called People Next Door, whose partner is the Sirius Foundation, the official non-profit partner of the 56th KV IFF. The section will offer images with the theme of handicapped people, which depict heroes with physical disabilities, visual or hearing impairments.
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This year’s non-profit partner of the festival will be the Patron of Children of the Sirius Foundation project. Patron of Children is a unique project that presents stories on the Internet of children who need any help. Each of us can then choose a story to support and an amount to contribute. The operation of the project is completely paid to its founder, so the contributions will reach the children in full up to the last crown.
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