Karlovy Vary Film Festival Set To Revamp Industry Days Section With Bigger Focus On Series & Central European Co-Pros
The extended program, which takes place across four days (July 6-9) and is supported by a new partnership with entertainment outfit and broadcaster Central European Media Enterprises, will introduce a Pop-Up Series Incubator featuring five original European series. The aim is to establish Karlovy Vary as a hub for co-productions and creative collaborations across diverse narrative forms.
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'We believe that we have a unique opportunity to strengthen our position as the leading industry event dedicated to Central Europe, a region that also includes creative powerhouses like Poland, Germany or Austria, and deserves focused international attention,' said KVIFF Executive Director Kryštof Mucha in a statement. 'Our aim is to serve as a central hub for producers, filmmakers, broadcasters and platforms from Central Europe, alongside global industry professionals who wish to engage closely with this vibrant region. Recognizing the growing crossover of storytelling across various mediums, our expanded Industry Days now have the capacity and vision to fully embrace this revolution.'
Central Europe Takes Central Stage
This year, there will be a new format dedicated to showcasing film projects in the making – the previous Works in Progress pitches will be replaced by a Central Eastern Europe-focused KVIFF Central Stage showcase, a new initiative created by the KVIFF Film Industry Office in cooperation with selected national film institutes of eight CEE nations (Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine).
Thirteen fiction films by established filmmakers from these countries that are in late stages of development, in production or post production, will feature in this initiative, which takes place on July 8 on the Industry Main Stage in the KVIFF Industry Hug in Kaiserbad. Instead of traditional pitches, projects will be introduced through interactive talks, with a focus on filmmakers and the co-production landscape in each of the participating countries.
The projects, which will be announced later this month, will be eligible for exclusive post-production benefits thanks to a partnership with leading studios UPP and Soundsquare. Projects qualifying for the Czech Audiovisual Fund's 35% incentive for digital production will receive an additional 15% direct discount from UPP and Soundsquare for comprehensive audio-visual post-production services.
The most promising films in development, which will be selected by an international jury, will also be eligible for the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.
'We chose this new format because it addresses a real gap in the Central European film landscape,' said Hugo Rosák, Head of the KVIFF Industry Office. 'There is significant support for emerging filmmakers across Eastern Europe, but mid-career filmmakers often lack the necessary spotlight and resources to secure financing, even though their projects are equally compelling.'
Small Screen, Big Ambitions
This year, the industry program will also look to embrace small-screen content through a new partnership with Central European Media Enterprises, a content creator and broadcaster that works in Central and Easter Europe in territories such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Slovenia. It also operates VoD platform Oneplay (formerly Voyo). The aim is to transform KVIFF into a comprehensive hub for television and streaming series development with a program consisting of showcases, panels, workshops and talks by major small-screen players and experts. That event will take place on July 8 and 9.
Pop Up Series Incubator
A vital part of the new small-screen focus is the Pop Up Series Incubator showcase, which takes place on July 8. It's a new series development program designed to support European producers and scriptwriters by boosting their projects through hands-on development, expert mentorship and financial support. Presented and organized by Tatino Films, co-financed by the European Union and supported and hosted by La Région Grand Est, the city of Reims and KVIFF, the eight-month-long program comes together in Karlovy Vary with a pitching session where the creative teams will present their series concepts to industry professionals and decision makers, followed by curated match-making sessions with professionals that look to finance or produce series.
The 5 selected projects that will be showcased in Karlovy Vary are:
(Romania)
Producer: Anda Ionescu, Tangaj Production
Writer: Cristina Grosan
Based on a true story of The Angel Makers of Nagyrév
Accompanied by screenwriters Leana Jalukse and Loïc Barrère
(France)
Producer: Eric Dupont, Incognito Films
Based on La Vita Erotica Dei Superuomini, acclaimed Italian novel by Marco Mancassola
Accompanied by screenwriters Nadya Todorova, and Ruddy-Williams Kabuiku
(France)
Producer: Candice Zaccagnino, Eliane Antoinette
Writer: David Roux
http://www.kviff.comBased on La Nuit des Béguines, acclaimed French novel by Aline Kiner
Accompanied by screenwriter Yaelle Kayam
(Greece)
Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa, BLONDE S.A.
Writer: Elina Psykou
Based on Alfatride (O iatrodikastis), a Greek novel by Vassilis Vassilikos
Accompanied by screenwriter Lemba de Miranda
(Lithuania)
Producer: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, Just a moment
Writer: Birutė Kapustinskaitė
Based on a play by Lithuanian writer Birutė Kapustinskaitė
Accompanied by screenwriters Fabrizio Muscia and Ruxandra Ghitescu
Works In Development – Feature Launch & Focus Queer to Compete For Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
One of the KVIFF Eastern Promises staples, the Midpoint Institute's Works In Development international script development program will showcase nine feature-length projects that are currently in development and five additional projects developed within Midpoint – Focus Queer, a program supporting filmmakers exploring queer narratives, highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion in contemporary storytelling.
The projects, now looking for co-production partners, will compete for the traditional €10,000 Midpoint and KVIFF Development Award, as well as the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award. Presentations take place on July 7.
KVIFF Talents
Now in its third edition, KVIFF Talents is a year-long program which supports Czech and Slovak filmmakers and innovative audiovisual genres. The Creative Pool focuses on identifying innovative audiovisual works of any genre or format – from short films to series to podcasts or game concepts. Feature Pool is dedicated to development of original auteur-driven feature-length fiction films.
Six projects have been selected – three series and three features – which will receive development funding, mentorship from industry experts and the opportunity to present projects to potential producers, partners and investors on July 7. The projects are:
(Czech Republic)
Feature debut combining live action and stop-motion animation
Animator & Director: Daria Kashcheeva
Producer: Lukáš Kokeš, Nutprodukce
(Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Feature film – thriller
Director: Tomáš Klein
Screenwriter: Barbora Námerová
Producer: Tomáš Michálek, Master Film
(Czech Republic)
Feature debut based on the novel by Petr Šesták
Writer & Director: Greta Stocklassa
Producer: Marek Novák, Xova Films
(Czech Republic)
Animated series for both children and adults
Animator & Director: Phillip Kastner
Producer: Tereza Havlová
(Czech Republic)
Anime series
Writer & Director: Dužan Duong
Producers: AZN kru and Nutprodukce
(Czech Republic)
Live-action musical series
Writer & Director: Kateřina Letáková
Producer: Daniel Bleha, Filmkolektiv
Proven Industry Events Anchor Expanded Program
In addition to these new showcases, KVIFF Industry Days will continue to offer its traditional mix of events, such as the Czech Film Industry Forum and International Industry Insights Forum, a series of swift sessions that provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the global and local markets.
The program includes more in-depth workshops, panels and talks on the Workshop Stage, as well as industry networking and meeting opportunities. The schedule will be published later this month.
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Hypebeast
an hour ago
- Hypebeast
Jean Dawson: An Interlude
Jean Dawson is typically in the studio every day from 7 p.m. through 7 a.m., so an 8 a.m. call time fell right in the middle of his REM sleep. 'Waking up today kicked my ass, but it was great. I need that sometimes,' says Dawson, who finds humility in the mundane. Waking up early isn't a foreign concept for a now 29-year-old Dawson, who grew up as David Sanders. He split his time between San Diego and Mexico, having to wake up before sunrise to walk to the bus to the U.S. border, where he and his younger brother Jerome would then wait in line for hours to cross into the States, where they went to school. This was the protocol for four years up until Dawson was in middle school; he's always valued sleeping in after that. He tells me it's a marker of success. It's similar to why the musician values hot showers so much. He didn't always have a water heater in Mexico, so he and his brother would heat water on the stove to bathe. The son of a U.S. Army father, local to Long Beach, and a Mexican mother who divided her days between multiple jobs, Dawson was raised by his mom — who relocated the family to Spring Valley, California, when Jean was 12 — alongside Jerome and his 'chosen brother' and now manager, Nico Hernandez. 'I still remember sitting in the hood on his doorstep smoking Newports in the middle of winter, telling him, 'One day we're gonna see the world,'' Dawson recalls, now just a wall away from Hernandez, who is seated at the front of the studio with their French Bulldog, Mala. The day prior, Hernandez and Dawson saw Swan Lake together, chuckling at the audience members who side-eyed the all-black-wearing, face-tattooed 6'2' guys sitting in orchestra seats at the ballet. Hidden by the facade is Dawson's deep admiration and knowledge of classical music, but he still invites everyone to form their own opinions. Because ultimately, he could not care any less about them. 'Judge me. Perceive me, because that opinion lives and dies with you.' Other people's perceptions have never really plagued Dawson. He knows his discography is so diverse that it's almost confusing. He knows his voice sometimes sounds like he's screaming. He knows other times it sounds like he has a woman's voice — if the multi-instrumentalist could trade one of his talents, it would be to swap out his singing voice for that of a woman's. He has no desire to fit in any box, except that of his own skin. He prefers the in-between. 'When someone asks me what kind of music I make, I just say, 'You tell me.' Whatever you decide is what I am.' It's Dawson's own opinion that keeps him up at night. He reflected heavily on this sentiment the last time we caught up with him, back in October of 2023, fresh off the release of his 'NO SZNS' collaboration with SZA and the end of his European tour with Lil Yachty. His own worst enemy and loudest critic, Dawson is still working on speaking more kindly to himself. Admittedly, it's a work in progress, but he feels like, lately, he's been learning more about himself 'in passing as a result of it.' After putting his sonic fluidity center stage on his debut studio album Bad Sports in 2019, Dawson landed early collaborations with A$AP Rocky on 2020's Pixel Bath and Earl Sweatshirt on 2022's CHAOS NOW* , and a coveted co-sign from Rick Rubin. Dawson, the duality-drenched, highly self-aware polymath he is, never let the big-name endorsements or credits get to his head, continuing to instead continue to exist in his own enigma. He's also been in the cut with Hypebeast and Hypetrak for a while now, first taking us along for a raw and unfiltered first look into his creative process in an introspective installation of Hypebeast: Diaries in early 2023. Donning a vintage RAF Simons 'Altered Reality' work jacket, Dawson took the team to an observation deck in Lincoln Heights, where he did a lot of his early writing, drawing, and lots and lots of thinking — not all of it productive. Today, Dawson is prioritizing the productive thoughts, the positive ones, the needle-pushing ones, and posing to the negative ones: 'Who do you think you're talking to?' He's also donning the same RAF Simons work jacket — but this time, it's not styled quite the same way. How are you? I'm good. I'm in an interesting place. I'm learning a lot about myself in passing. Things I didn't know about myself are now becoming very clear. The things I want to convey have changed, and the way I want to convey those things has changed. How are you approaching making music these days? I feel a sense of wonderment that I haven't felt in a long time, like a kid, where everything is still interesting and making me wide-eyed. The work we do can make you jaded, and I've kind of just stopped caring — in a helpful way. The act of caring for me is very specific; I'm very intentional with what I spend my time caring about. What are you spending your time on now? A lot of different things that I'm passionate about. I'm always making more music, but there are new things that are making me feel a different sense of excitement. I'm writing some film scripts, which has been fun. The other night, when I was falling asleep, I remembered this quote that's been informing everything I create. I forget if someone said it to me or if I made it up, but it goes: 'I feel like I'm everything because I already was by the time they said I couldn't be,' and that has been ringing true to not only my music and my outlook, but the fluidity of me as a person. By the time someone tells me I can't be something, I've already done it. What are your current thoughts on genre and people trying to box in your sound? If I had to give my music a genre, I'd call it ghetto pop. But I've never belonged to any 'genre' in music. I've never belonged to the punks. I've never belonged to the rock kids. I've never belonged to the hip-hop kids. I've never belonged to the jazz kids. I've never been in a clique of things. Because I can migrate from thing to thing, by the time someone tries to box me in like, 'You make rock music,' I'm already onto the next thing like, 'Oh really? Cool!' Whenever someone asks me what genre of music I make, I say, 'You tell me,' because whatever they decide it is, is what it is. One day I want to do Janis Joplin, then the next I want to do The Temptations, and then the next I want to do Jodeci. My music changes because I change. I respect artists who find a sound and can keep pounding at that. I think that's noble and strong. I'm not strong in that way. I get bored. I can't just color with orange. I need black in there. Is it weird having to tap back into past sounds when you're so far past that point in life? Imagine waking up and the only clothes you have in your closet are from high school… It's like that. So I just do my best to put on those clothes that not only don't fit the same, but also just look funny now. A lot of people found me on an album I dropped in 2019, and I had to get comfortable with the fact that that was a time I'll never be able to replace for them. How do you not let the outside noise affect you? It's not that it doesn't affect me. I feel like the only thing I can provide is a smile and a hug, and being a decent human being to those around me before anything else. I heard something special not too long ago: 'Stop acting like the person next to you isn't your brother or sister.' That's how I'm trying to look at the world and myself. I still can be pretty mean to myself, but I've started to defend myself from myself. It keeps me in check. My favorite thing to say is, 'Who do you think you're talking to?' Or I'll think about the child version of myself. 'You wouldn't talk to seven-year-old you like that. So shut up.' One of my favorite sentiments of yours that we discussed in our last chat was 'Your opinion of me lives and dies in your head.' Is that still your mentality? It's that with more care. It's less punky of an idea and more of an acceptance of self. I know who I am, and whether or not someone sees me the same way is up to them. In the grand scheme of things, I think I'm insignificant — and not in a negative way at all. Insignificant in the scheme of everything good and bad in the world, and that principle allows me to explore my creative freedom. What are some things that hold significance to you today? The sky. The ocean. Babies. This is our first time here (that we know of), and I want to treat it as such. I want to stumble. I want to fall. I want to experience things for the first time. This naive, childlike perspective of 'Oh yeah, I can try this' has given me so much room to gallop. Your sound has changed with every project, yet they all still feel connected. Walk me through getting from your first studio album, Bad Sports , to your most recent, Glimmer of God? From Bad Sports to Pixel Bath , that was me going from crawling to walking. From Pixel Bath to CHAOS NOW* was a jog. CHAOS NOW* was the first album I wrote for myself. Every one before that was for my dad. The stars in the track names are fireworks; I didn't want to end my sentences with periods because everything on that album is meant to be continued. It's supposed to feel like a bunch of run-on sentences written in crayon. Then we get to Glimmer of God , which is me speeding up to where I am now. With that album, I wanted to do something I hadn't done. I wanted to start singing for real. So I locked myself in the house and practiced singing. Before that album, I was just shouting. That album is my ode to truth. And my truth was realizing that I'd been mean to myself for a long time, and that project is me letting that go and starting to be kind and sweet to myself. The deluxe version, Rockabye Baby: Glimmer of God , is the end of the story. It's different, but it's informed by everything I've done. What is it that ties all of your projects together? They're all connected by the same throughline. Little secret: pretty much every song on each album connects to a song on the next album. Every album is a more mature version of its predecessor. On Pixel Bath , I had 'Pegasus' and on CHAOS NOW*, I had 'SICK OF IT*'. Those are the same song; one is just better. What was the guiding principle behind Glimmer of God ? The album is about me embracing my duality. I want to embody beauty and grace in music. It's something I think Prince has done best. It's subversive and it's sweet, but it's also strong and masculine. The things I'm learning about myself have been very informed by my ability to bend like that. There's this anime you should watch called Berserk . One of the male protagonists is named Griffith, and he's gorgeous. His hair is always flowing, and he speaks very calmly. Conversely, the other main character is named Guts, and he's the total opposite. He's a warrior. But both characters are essentially the same person, just two sides of the same coin. That's what I wanted the album cover to feel like: glamorous but don't fuck around. Don't play with me. Where does your innate adaptability come from? It all comes from my mom. She let me be everything I was supposed to be. I was very fortunate to have that. One of my biggest life goals is to open an institution where kids can learn instruments. If they attend enough classes, they can keep their instrument and return whenever they want to refresh their skills. Once they graduate from the program, they can come back and volunteer to teach the kids. You don't know where the next Freddie Mercury might come from. He, she, or they might come from Milwaukee. Or East LA. But when they don't have the opportunity to explore their talents, they'll never know. What are some things you feel privileged to experience today? My favorite thing that I get to do is wake up when I'm not tired. That's my marker of success. Also, being able to travel the world with my brother, Nico. I still remember sitting in the hood on his doorstep smoking Newports in the middle of winter, telling him, 'One day we're gonna see the world.' Now, we're sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower. Yesterday we saw Swan Lake . We're just two colored boys with face tattoos from the hood going to see Swan Lake . People were looking at us like, 'What are they doing here?' Don't get it fucked up. I know more about classical music than you do. Judge me. Perceive me. That thought lives and dies with you. But we can watch Swan Lake together. You designed some of the pieces you're wearing today, like the bedazzled hats and the studded Rick Owens Ramones. Has fashion always been something you've tapped into? I've been making clothes since I was a kid. My mom would take me shopping at the thrift store for clothes. I'd always find skinny jeans in crazy colors, but they wouldn't fit, so we'd bring them down to my aunt in Mexico to tailor them. For every pair I gave her, she charged me a dollar, just to keep me responsible. She'd always try and take me to Foot Locker, and I knew we couldn't afford it and would be like, 'Mom, we can go to Walmart.' I'd get these Starter sneakers and would ask her for colored shoelaces. Then we'd go to Joann Fabrics to get gemstones and glue, and I would spend hours designing my shoes. To this day, I'll buy some Balenciaga and fuck it up. Those hand-studded Ramones took me so long to do. Making music doesn't always calm me down, but fashion is something that calms me down. What does making music feel like today? Making music feels like a long kiss. There's something romantic about being lost in it, and there's something romantic about stepping back and observing it.
Eater
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The Tomato Sandwich That Launched a Small NY Restaurant Empire
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Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
At 90, pianist Ran Blake has countless mentees - and an immeasurable legacy
To celebrate Blake's 10th decade, a few of his favorite mentees, including Dominique Eade and Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Ran gave me the freedom to find myself in jazz standards,' said Portuguese singer Sara Serpa, who studied with Blake at NEC and made an album, 'Camera Obscura,' with him in 2009. As a European, she said, she was leery of approaching 'this sacred American art form. Ran really gave me permission to find myself in the songs, to create my own stories.' Advertisement Before coming to NEC, where he ran the Department of Third Stream (named for Schuller's idea of a 'third stream' of music between jazz and classical), Blake befriended and studied with Oscar Peterson, Mal Waldron, Charles Mingus, and other jazz greats. On a video call from his Brookline apartment, Blake laughed as he mentioned all of the musicians who didn't 'get' his idiosyncratic style: 'JJ Johnson wasn't impressed. Ray Brown was very nice to me, but not impressed. Bob Brookmeyer hated me.' Advertisement But his reliance on his own instincts – eventually laid out in his philosophy, 'the primacy of the ear' – also won him countless admirers. 'Everyone I've met has a profound admiration for his sound,' said Serpa, who has a tradition of bringing her family to visit him each Thanksgiving, cooking for him. (She will perform with pianist Matt Mitchell at NEC on October 2.) 'He's just so original,' Serpa said. 'And it's hard to be original, to be different. And build a career mostly on solo records. That can get quite lonely, I think.' Blake's longtime NEC colleague Hankus Netsky, who chairs the department Blake once led (now called the Department of Contemporary Improvisation), explained the idea behind his friend's philosophy in an email: 'Take in a diverse diet of great music, learn it through detailed listening to the fine points of each artist's interpretation, and then use it as a springboard for your own creative musical imagination.' Through a faculty professional development program, Netsky said, Blake recently recorded a solo piano album called 'Voices,' honoring some of his favorite singers, among them Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, Mahalia Jackson, and Al Green. That's expected to come out in early 2026. Archivists also continue to release material from Blake's earliest collaboration, with the singer Jeanne Lee, whom he met while both were students at Bard College in the late 1950s. Their joint debut, 'The Newest Sound Around' (1961), remains one of his most notable releases. Advertisement Before taking over the new Third Stream department at NEC, Blake served for a few years as the school's community services director. They brought music programming to the public — to institutions including a retirement community and the prison then known as MCI-Walpole. They also ran night classes in ear training, studying artists from Messiaen and Mingus, to one of Blake's favorite jazz singers, Chris Connor. 'The whole semester cost $20,' Blake recalled. Those programs were especially meaningful to him, he said: 'It was very important to send music to where the people are and encourage them to play.' And not just for the students' own sake. The educators, Blake said, learned plenty from the students. It was an early lesson in a belief he still holds – that making music is really about a heightened ability to listen. RAN BLAKE'S 90TH CELEBRATION At the Square Root, 2 Corinth St., Boston, Sunday, Aug. 24, 4 p.m. Tickets available at the door. James Sullivan can be reached at jamesgsullivan@
