Eva Zaoralová, who has become synonymous with the success of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), is stepping down as its artistic director after 15 years.
As of Jan. 1, 2011, Karel Och will become the new artistic director and 78-year-old Zaoralová will stay in the picture as the festival’s artistic consultant. Och became the festival’s program director last year after being with the festival as programmer since 2001.
Zaoralová and KVIFF president Jiří Bartoška have been credited as the driving forces behind the transformation of the festival into a modern event that attracts top-ranked international celebrities.
“It needs to be highlighted that Mrs. Zaoralová will continue being part of the selection committee — prescreening films, travelling to festivals and screenings abroad — and will collaborate on final programming decisions,” Och told Czech Position. “I am taking over duties and responsibilities connected with the position of the festival’s artistic director coordinating the work of programming team.”
During Och’s time at the festival, he has been responsible for a diverse range of retrospectives on topics such as Hollywood action director Sam Peckinpah, UK-based writer-producer-director duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and a program on New Hollywood Cinema.
Groomed by a legend in the industry
Zaoralová said that she had been preparing Och to take her role for many years in advance of this announcement. “I have been taking Karel Och for my successor for a long time. I respect him very much as a cinema connoisseur and aficionado, as well as a human being. I look forward to continue working for the festival with which I have been connected for so many years,” she said in a press release. ‘I couldn’t have had a better mentor in festival programming’
Och says that he has been well-trained for the role. “I couldn’t have had a better mentor in festival programming than with Mrs. Zaoralová. Our discussions on cinema have always been thought-provoking and illuminating. And I’m thrilled that this close collaboration will go on with her continued involvement with KVIFF,” Och said in a press release. “I will keep on building on what makes KVIFF a truly distinctive event — a combination of modern and classic, the co-existence of new ways of storytelling with a fresh look on film history’s crucial moments.”
When asked if he has any concrete plans or ideas in mind related to building on these elements of the KVIFF, he explained that it is still a work in progress.
Recognized for outstanding service
Zaoralová, who in addition to her festival work also writes about film, received a Medal of Merit on Oct. 28 for service to the country from President Václav Klaus. The medal marked the first time a film industry personality in the Czech Republic has been awarded such a high honor in the area of journalism and criticism, according to KVIFF.
Zaoralová’s other credits include being a member of the presidium of the Czech Film and Television Academy and the European Film Academy. She has also been a jury member at international film festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Torino, Mannheim and Trieste.
The Karlovy Vary festival began in 1946 and is one of the world’s oldest. Between 1959 and 1993 it used to alternate with an international film festival in Moscow. This was because the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), which oversees international festivals, wanted to have only one accredited competitive festival per year in the then-socialist bloc.
Up through 1989 the Karlovy Vary festival was controlled by the state, and the festival’s schedule was often dominated with propaganda. By 1992 the festival was struggling with a lack of funding and almost came to a close.
Bartoška became festival president in 1994 and began to move the event in a new direction. Zaoralová joined the festival team in 1995.
The 46th KVIFF will take place July 1–9, 2011. The main highlights of the program will be announced by organizers during the spring.
