Winning films from the last 5 years of the Karlovy Vary IFF. What do they have in common?
In all competitions, the jury evaluates and chooses the winner. But how do you determine which movie is the best, which photo is the most sincere, which art piece is the most successfully executed? We looked back at the last 5 years of the Karlovy Vary film festival and tried to find a common thread among the winning films.
2017 (52nd year) – winning film Little Crusader
Last year, Václav Vorlíček's Czech film won. The lead role of the film, which is about a knight seeking his son, was played by the excellent actor Karel Roden. The movie Little Crusader is referred to as a medieval road movie with the themes of paternity, loneliness, and a journey. It is based on a poem by Jaroslav Vrchlický.
2016 (51st year) – winning film It's Not the Time of My Life
The Crystal Globe was awarded in 2016 to the film It's Not the Time of My Life by Hungarian director and actor Szabolcs Hajdu. This is a drama that the director filmed in his own home and the actors were his friends and family members. It's Not the Time of My Life is a drama about family relationships, in which he also played and won the Best Actor Award for his performance.
2015 (50th year) – winning film Bob and the Trees
The main award from the 50th year of the festival was taken by director Diego Ongaro for the American drama Bob and the Trees that deals with lumberjacks from the north. Bob Tarasuk plays himself in the movie: the programmer did not want to sit in an office in front of his computer anymore. He started working as a lumberjack, but his weakness remains golf.
2014 (49th year) – winning film Corn Island
George Ovashvili's film, shot in Georgia, was co-produced by 5 countries, including the Czech Republic. It is the story of a grandfather and granddaughter who settle down on an island on the border between Georgia and the broken away republic of Abkhazia and grow corn together. But the girl grows and turns into a woman, which brings many confrontations.
Year 2013 (48th year) – winning film The Notebook
The Notebook is the war drama of Janos Szász about 13-year-old twins who had to spend the last years of World War II with their cruel grandmother somewhere in the border region. Not a very beautiful outlook...
What do the films have in common?
As you can see, winning films definitely have a common category in which they fall, and that is drama. Drama often has a heavy theme, the music, camerawork, sound, and, of course, actors, are important. Drama puts emphasis on detail, it is necessary to tune the viewer precisely to a particular atmosphere, to place him in the film without boring him. Drama has a deep idea, and although the plot is often fictional, it carries the stories of our everyday lives. The drama must be comprehensible, but not too simple. The central themes are relationships: son and father, grandmother and granddaughter, family.
So guess what film will take the Crystal Globe this year? In the words of a classic:
"It'll be dramatic!"
