Karlovy Vary 2007

"Simple Things"

Originally, in the 50s and 60s, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival has alternated with the Moscow one. Later on, both events changed to an annual term (at the same period of the year) — and started to fight over the same films. After the political changes in Eastern Europe, the Moscow Festival lived through several difficult periods; while Karlovy Vary became purposeful the most exiting film event in Eastern Europe, under the knowledgable management of our colleague Eva Zaoralova and the young team she managed to create. Today, the festival is open to worldwide cinema, but functions in particular as a stable bridge between the cinemas of Eastern and Western Europe. At the 42nd edition, our jury distinguished a Russian film: Simple Things (Prostye veshchi) by Alexei Popogrebsky.

Karlovy Vary (42nd International Film Festival, June 29-July 7, 2007): www.kviff.com/en/news-live
Details of the prize

Reports

Strong Films from the East and the North. Beat Glur assesses the films in the main competition, the majority of which he found successful with only two disappointments.
Family Life. Jan Foll is drawn into several films with the theme of family tragedies and crises that featured in the main competition.
Murder Icelandic Style. Anita Piotrowska is intrigued by Baltasar Kormákur's social thriller Jar City, which works on many different levels.
The Challenge of a Character. Henrik Uth Jensen analyses Elke Hauck's feature debut Karger, considering it as part of New German Realism.
Marriage Polish Style. Gorazd Trušnovec is impressed by 'an intelligent and sensitive study of family relationships' in the Polish competition entry, Savior's Square.

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