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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Last Year at Karlovy Vary: A Remembrance of Czech Actor and Festival Chief Jiri Bartoska
I first met actors Jiri Bartoska – who died Thursday at the age of 78 – and Leonardo DiCaprio at the same time, at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival 31 summers ago. The encounter was memorable for all three of us, I suspect. Leo was a teenager, just beginning his march to fame and glory, and Karlovy Vary was his first film festival, also attended by his German mother Irmelin and his German grandparents. He climbed into his grandparents laps and I have that snap eternally imprinted in my memory banks of my favorite movie business moments. More from Variety Jiří Bartoška, Actor and Karlovy Vary Film Festival President, Dies at 78 John Garfield, Star of 'Body and Soul' and 'Force of Evil,' to Be Subject of Tribute at Karlovy Vary Film Festival 'Pierce' Review: A Saber-Sharp Sociopathy Thriller in Which Brotherly Love Duels With Suspicion That fortnight in the Bohemian sun led to a marriage and a daughter for me, but it also led to a fortuitous journalistic adventure that I like to think benefited Variety's readers as well. I had just begun my 32 seasons as an editor at the magazine. Jiri had just begun his 31 seasons as the leader of the newly privatized KV fest. Along with his artistic director, the noted film journalist/critic Eva Zaoralova and his business partner, Slovak producer Rudolf Biermann, Jiri led a formerly state-run enterprise out of financial straits into the new dawn of Czech capitalism. Sponsors climbed aboard his train and Karlovy Vary became an essential stop on the festival calendar. By the turn of the century, there were young, dynamic film lovers who Jiri came to rely on as he took sole control of the festival and Zaoralova retired. Today, two of those Czech boys of decades ago, Karel Och and Krystof Mucha, are men who serve respectively as the fest's program director and producer and they've steered the ship through the 21st century. They've been ably aided by Czech VIP coordinator Tatiana Detlofson, and in the past decades the team welcomed Oscar winners, major filmmakers and stars. Today, this trio is mourning the loss of their boss, with Och remembering his tenure under Bartoska as 'a quarter of a century close to a human being with an incredible aura and a piercing sense of humor. The void he leaves is immense.' Detlofson assesses Bartoska's impact as 'a giant in Czech cinema… our Robert Redford. Not only was he a brilliant actor but he was a cultural force of nature who built one of the biggest and most important film festivals in the world. He will be missed by the whole Czech nation.' In Mucha's view, Bartoska was both 'a man who saved the Karlovy Vary Film Festival' and 'a great actor with enormous charisma.' Mucha adds: 'Jiri was friends with legends such as Milos Forman, Vaclav Havel and (former American Secretary of State) Madeleine Albright, but he was kind to anyone he met in everyday life. I thank God I had the chance to meet him all those years ago when I was a 22 year-old student and had the chance to learn from him through all these years.' Perhaps their youth, matched by Bartoska's vision, is the secret of Karlovy Vary's status as a kind of annual 'Film Woodstock' in Eastern Europe. From almost the beginning of Bartoska's stewardship, the festival welcomed youthful film fans by the tens of thousands, and they pitched tents, slept on hotel room floors and packed dance clubs for all night raves after days and nights of moviegoing. If Cannes is frantic and elite, Berlin Teutonic and Venice pricey, KV is easy-going, laid back, egalitarian, a true young people's fest. I may have stumbled upon Bartoska's fest long past my dance club days, but the casual spa town atmosphere lent itself to countless memorable encounters that were vital to my education and growth as a film journalist. Where else could you drop in on Abbas Kiarostami for a casual chat, or wind up singing Coasters songs at dinner with Morgan Freeman? Or have Michael Douglas beckon me to his room at the splendid Hotel Pupp to give Variety a scoop about his latest film? Or spent hours getting to know Pythons Terry Jones and John Cleese, American indie auteur Gus Van Sant, legendary thesps such as Ben Gazzara, Rod Steiger, L.Q. Jones and my SoCal hero Danny Trejo? Conviviality and love of film has been a hallmark of Bartoska's great presentation and celebration of film. Mel Gibson held an audience of 1400 young Czech film fans entranced with 'Apocalypto' and John Boorman brought his 70s macho American culture masterpiece 'Deliverance' to an equally astonished crowd who packed that same theater, inside the neo-brutalist concrete edifice of the Hotel Thermal. Jiri created a framework that ignited the imaginations of the young and fed the hunger for meaningful cinematic encounters with film lovers of all ages and nationalities. But a bit of pre-Jiri KV is in order. Karlovy Vary, historically one of the first film festivals in Europe, was where you went for the new Iron Curtain cinema and it alternated annually with the Moscow Film Festival in that mission. That may have meant a lot back in the days of the Prague Spring and the Czech New Wave filmmakers such as Milos Forman, Ivan Passer, Jiri Menzel, et al, but by 1994, the '60s were a long time ago and there was not so much action in the East. The film world had been energized by the Germans in the 70s and the 90s were abuzz with new Asian talents and those blazing American indies named Soderbergh, Tarantino, Lynch, the Coens. Jiri's path forward with a big sprawling, expensive festival deep in the shadows of Cannes, Berlin and Venice was fraught with economic hurdles and a daunting search for purpose and relevance in 1994. Remarkably, the KV team led by Jiri managed almost immediately to get on the radar of both Hollywood and the rest of world cinema. Variety played a not insignificant role in this development as it was invited to have its critics and journalists program an official section of the festival, highlighting the new European filmmakers who were matching and surpassing the Americans in creativity and cinematic ambition. From Tom Tykwer to Jessica Hausner, Nicolas Winding Refn to Catherine Corsini, Variety's 'Europe Now' section played to packed crowds and connected the publication to exciting emerging talents, all thanks to Jiri's team and their vision for the future. I can't claim to have been part of Jiri's inner circle of friends. Looking back over the decades of attendance at what I view as his creation – the modern KV fest era – I only ever saw him in a tuxedo or golfing attire. How would I try to describe his suave and easy swagger? Imagine Sky Du Mont as the elegant Sandor Szavost, champagne flute in hand, wooing Nicole Kidman in 'Eyes Wide Shut,' and you get a sense of Bartoska's personal style and Cary Grantish charm. Jiri was Karlovy Vary's secret weapon, because the moment a movie star such as Sharon Stone, Jude Law or Renee Zellweger stepped into the Bohemian sun, they were greeted by an infinitely charming movie star who shone every bit as brightly as his guests, and one whose passion for cinema was a match for even his grandest guests. Best of Variety Cameron Diaz's 12 Best Film Performances: From 'Charlie's Angels' to 'There's Something About Mary' Leonardo DiCaprio Turns 50: His 21 Best Performances, From 'The Departed' to 'Titanic' Emmy Predictions: Lead Actor (Comedy) — Jeremy Allen White Goes for His Second Win, but Could Season 3 Mixed Reviews Factor In?
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jirí Bartoska, Czech Actor and Longtime Karlovy Vary Film Festival President, Dies at 78
Jirí Bartoska, a major star of pre-Velvet Revolution Czech theater, TV and film who helped save the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival before serving as its president and public face for decades, died Thursday. He was 78. Bartoska died in Prague following a long battle with lung cancer, KVIFF executive director Krystof Mucha told The Hollywood Reporter. More from The Hollywood Reporter The Hollywood Reporter's Access Canada Summit to Launch During Toronto Film Festival Cardinal Robert Prevost Becomes First American Pope, Takes the Name Leo XIV Cannes Late Additions Include Eugene Jarecki's Julian Assange Doc 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Bartoska was born on March 24, 1947 — just months after the inaugural Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — in Decín, Czechoslovakia. Upon graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno to pursue a career in theater, and he was a student there when the Soviet occupation of the country began in 1968. While at Janacek, Bartoska began visiting Karlovy Vary, a Bohemian spa town — also known by its German name of Carlsbad — some 70 miles outside of Prague. One such visit led to him being cast by director Frantisek Vlácil in the project that launched his film career: Shadows of a Hot Summer, which went on to be awarded the top prize, the Crystal Globe, at KVIFF in 1978. In the 1980s, through appearances on TV shows including Sanitka, Cirkus Humberto and My Vsichni Skolou Povinní, Bartoska became a household name in Czechoslovakia. At the time, the country had one TV network and one magazine, so being featured on either — and he was on both — resulted in major celebrity. He also became close to actor Václav Havel, who would go on to become the last president of Czechoslovakia (1989-92) and, after the 1993 split of the country into two nations, the first president of the Czech Republic (1993-2003). The Bartoska/Havel relationship would prove pivotal when KVIFF fell upon hard times. KVIFF had launched in 1946 — the same year as the Cannes and Locarno festivals — in the immediate aftermath of World War II, two years before the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. (The only European film festival that predates 1946 is Venice's, established in 1932.) Initially called the Czechoslovak Film Festival, the first edition was held in Mariánské Lázne; then in Mariánské Lázne and Karlovy Vary; and then solely in Karlovy Vary. By 1956, it had found its footing and was declared an 'A-category' festival — the same designation that was bestowed upon Cannes — by the International Federation of Producers Associations. Even so, starting in 1959, that organization forced it to alternate each year with the Moscow International Film Festival. The fest consistently attracted major figures from world cinema — among them Frank Capra, Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale and Bernardo Bertolucci — but was only open to Karlovy Vary residents and industry insiders and struggled to break even financially. In 1993, the government of the new Czech Republic withdrew financial support for many cultural events, arguing they should become financially independent, and it looked as if KVIFF might go away. In response to massive backlash, the Ministry of Culture convened a group of influential citizens to figure out a way forward. Bartoska later recalled, 'I was approached by Igor Sevcik from the Ministry of Culture, along with a couple of other people who had hoped to re-establish the credit and status of KVIFF.' Bartoska and veteran film journalist Eva Zaoralová were among those who worked with the Ministry of Culture, the city of Karlovy Vary and the historic Grand Hotel Pupp (later the inspiration for Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel) to establish the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation. Their efforts helped the fest move forward in 1994 with 70 percent of its funding from private donors (a young Leonardo DiCaprio was a guest that year) and with the intention of turning it into an annual event. In 1995, Bartoska became the festival's president and Zaoralová its program director (a position she held until her death in 2022). But that year, the fest faced a new existential threat: the International Federation of Producers Associations, having learned about KVIFF's financial turmoil, revoked its A-category status and transferred it to Golden Golem, a fest being launched that year in Prague, two weeks before KVIFF, with Meryl Streep attending. It was clear the Czech Republic could not sustain two major film festivals, and citizens watched with bated breath to see which would survive. It was in this moment that the friendship of Bartoska and Havel proved crucial. Havel declined to visit the fest in Prague but showed up on opening night to KVIFF. 'That was the moment that changed the whole game,' Mucha recalls. Two years later, the Golden Golem was gone, and KVIFF embarked on a new golden age. Over the decades, the festival has become known as the 'Woodstock of the East,' with Czech citizens flocking there, often camping in tents alongside the River Teplá and lining up for hours to see provocative films from abroad like Trainspotting, to see homegrown works or to catch a glimpse of honorees. Bartoska became the face of the fest (Zaoralová preferred to remain behind the scenes), particularly to such A-list visitors as Robert Redford (2005), Robert De Niro (2008), John Travolta (2013), Mel Gibson (2014), Julianne Moore (2019), Michael Caine (2021), Russell Crowe (2023) and Clive Owen (2024), greeting them upon their arrival at the Pupp, toasting them at formal dinners and presenting them with their honors at the fest's black-tie opening- and closing-night ceremonies. In recent years, he received the same sort of standing ovations that they did. In 1998, 20 years after Shadows of a Hot Summer won KVIFF's Crystal Globe and made Bartoska a star, he presented director Vlácil with a special prize from the fest for outstanding contribution to world cinema. 'For me,' Bartoska later said, 'the circle was complete.' (Vlácil died less than a year later.) Bartoska continued to act, in 2000 winning the best supporting actor prize at the Czech Lion Awards, the nation's version of the Oscars, for his performance in All My Loved Ones. But in November 2014, at 67, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He told the publication Vunela: 'I had been filming the series Ja, Mattoni for about 10 days. All of a sudden, I did not feel well, so I went to see a doctor for a check-up. I had an X-ray examination and cancer was detected.' Since then, the cancer was treated but returned. Bartoska continued to attend KVIFF, though he stepped back from day-to-day work. In 2017, at the Czech Lion Awards, he was presented with an honorary prize for unique contribution to Czech film. Czech president Petr Pavel presented him with the Medal for Merit 1st degree in 2023. And in March, he made one of his final public appearances at the Czech Lion Awards. Bartoska is survived by his wife, Andrea, whom he married in 1976, and their children, Katerina and Janek. The 59th edition of KVIFF will take place July 4-12. Mucha, who first met Bartoska in 1997 and began working at the fest in 2004, tells THR, on behalf of himself and festival artistic director Karel Och: 'Karel and I were in our twenties, and he gave us a chance to work with him. We will miss him terribly. He was an incredibly special person who treated everyone the same way — he spoke the same way to the president of the country and a driver at the festival — and he was a great friend. As a festival president, he cannot be replaced. We will try to continue the festival in the way that he would have wanted.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
