'Me' is tops at bustling Karlovy Vary fest
Czech-out the power
"Me You Them," an offbeat, gentle film from Brazilian director Andrucha Waddington, captured the best-film award at the July 15 closing ceremony. Sophomore feature by the video and commercial helmer also earned an actress prize for Regina Case. Waddington told Daily Variety that he's in negotiations to direct a fall feature for Miramax before returning to Brazil for his own next project.
An influx of actors spiced the festival atmosphere. Cameras caught Edward Norton doing the party rounds with Heather Graham and Woody Harrelson. Also spied were Natascha McElhone, Timothy Spall and Alicia Silverstone, all from closer "Love's Labour's Lost"; Michael Legge of "Angela's Ashes"; Jason Cairns (U.S. competish film "The Magic of Marciano"); Katrin Cartlidge and Susan Lynch; helmers Allen and Albert Hughes; and Japanese celeb Rena Tanaka.
Julian Sands, Ian Hart, Dan Hedaya, Eli Wallach and Franco Nero also made the trek here.
Split decision
The jury, led by Abbas Kiarostami, split its jury prize (essentially a runner-up nod) between Lee Chang-Dong's Korean story of a disillusioned man, "Peppermint Candy," and Polish national treasure Jerzy Stuhr's "The Big Animal," based on a script by Krysztof Kieslowski and starring Stuhr.
Vinko Bresan took the director prize for the Croatian "Marshal Tito's Spirit." The actor trophy was also shared, going to Ian Hart for Hans Petter Moland's Norwegian entry "Aberdeen" and to Hamid Farrokhnezhad for Iranian director Khosro Sinai's "The Bride of Fire."
Special mentions went to two films in the 19-film lineup: Iceland's "Angels of the Universe," by Karlovy Vary fest frequenter Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, and France's "A Matter of Taste," by Bernard Rapp.
The Fipresci jury handed its main prize to "Angels of the Universe" and special mention to Alice Nellis' out-of-competition Czech debut "Eeny Meeny." Boston critic Gerald Peary, the jury chairman, sang the praises of program director Eva Zaoralova for the quality of the competition.
'Bride' of Freedom
The Philip Morris Freedom Prize, presented by the AFI at Karlovy Vary for the second time, went to Yaver Rzayev's "Yellow Bride," from Azerbaijan. Award recognizes a pic from an emerging Eastern European filmmaker.
Documentary competition returned here after a one-year absence. Sweden captured both the long and short docu prizes with "My Mother Had 14 Children" by Lars-Lennart Forsberg and Karin Wegsjo's docu "Part of the World That Belongs to You."
The jury, chaired by Richard Leacock, gave special mentions to the U.S. entry, Amir Bar-Lev's "Fighter," a dialogue between Czech author Arnost Lustig and WWII vet Jan Weiner, and to "The Sentence -- the Accusation" by Anna Petkova from Bulgaria.
The Variety Critics' Choice sidebar, consisting of 10 pics, scored high marks with audiences; one of the films did so well that it picked up the new Premiere prize bestowed by the film magazine.
The audience prize went to "Angela's Ashes."
'Candy' is dandy
FICC Don Quixote award went to "Peppermint Candy," with special mentions to "The Bride of Fire" and "No Place to Go" by German director Oskar Roehler.
The Ecumenical Jury awarded "The Big Animal," with special mentions to "House of Memories" from Indian director Aparna Sen and U.S. docu entry "Long Night's Journey Into Day," by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffman.
As a further example of the fest's burgeoning profile, the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema was present for the first time, handing its own award to Taiwanese film "A One and a Two" Edward Yang, with a mention to "Peppermint Candy."
Fest attendance was up nearly 20% over last year, to a record 140,000. In spite of stricter requirements for journalists, accreditations overall rose 50%, to 9,000. With two days added to the anniversary edition, films (293) and screenings (533) were also at an all-time high.
Hurrah for Saura
Carlos Saura received outstanding artistic contribution awards from fest president Jiri Bartoska.
Usually identified as the East-meets-West fest where foreigners come to catch up on recent Eastern European cinema, Karlovy Vary has been transformed into a celebration of European cinema. American independent filmmaking is relegated to the Forum of Independents section, while the new Euro indie generation is finding its own forum here, especially through the well-received Variety Critics' Choice section, devoted to debuting European directors for the second year.
With organization now solidly in place, Karlovy Vary looks poised to take a giant step forward, which could happen next year. As soon as this year's edition wraps, negotiations will begin in earnest with one high-powered industry confab wanting to convene here.
