The Festival’s main prize, the Crystal Globe, was awarded to the American film Bob and the Trees, directed by Diego Ongaro of France. There were 13 films presented in the main competition, including two from Poland – Marcin Koszałka and Adam Woronowicz’s thriller Red Spider and the documentary Magic Mountain, directed by Anca Damian, a Romanian director known for the film The Path to Beyond.
Damian’s film tells the story of Adam Jacek Winkler, a Pole, who in 1965 moved from Poland to Paris, before joining the army of Ahmad Shah Massoud to fight communism shoulder to shoulder with Afghan militants. In Magic Mountain, Damian draws a portrait of Winkler as an extraordinary individualist.
Magic Mountain, a Polish-French-Romanian co-production, combines techniques of animated film with documentary narration. The film was produced by Aparte Films, with co-producers Filmograf, SMF, and Arizona Productions. The film is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, Polish Television, KFF, CNC France, CNC Romania, and HBO Romania.
Poles in the competition East of the West
Magic Mountain and Koszałka’s Red Spider were not the only Polish accents to this year’s Czech festival. East of the West, a competition section presenting 13 debuts and second films from directors of Central and Eastern Europe, included Journey to Rome by Tomasz Mielnik, the premiere of Bartek Prokopowicz’s directorial debut Chemistry, and No Matter How Hard We Tried/ Między nami dobrze jest directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna and based on the drama by Dorota Masłowska.
Main Competition Winners at the 50th Karlovy Vary Film Festival
- Grand Prix – Crystal Globe – Bob and the Trees, dir. Diego Ongaro
- Special Jury Prize – Those Who Fall Have Wings/Jeder der fällt hat Flügel, dir. Peter Brunner
- Award for best director - Visar Morina for the film Babai
- Best Actress - Alena Mihulová for the film Home Care / Domácí péče
- Best Actor - Krystof Hádek for the film The Snake Brothers / Cobras and užovky
- Special Award of the Jury - ex aequo The Magic Mountain, dir. Anca Damian, Antonia, dir. Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Winners of the Competition East of the West
- Grand Prize - The Wednesday Child / Szerdai gyerek, dir. Lili Horváth
- Special Award Jury- The World Is Mine / Lumea ea mea, dir. Nicolae Constantin Tănase
Documentary Film Competition
- Grand Prize - Mallory, dir. Helena Třeštíková
- Special Mention - The Father Tapes / Vaterfilm, dir. Albert Meisl
- Best Documentary under 30 minutes - White Death / Muerte Blanca, dir. Roberto Collio
- Special Mention - Women in Sink, dir. Iris Zaki
Audience Award: Youth, dir. Paolo Sorrentino
Sources: PISF, PAP, ed. BS., trans. AA