You’re never too old to experience the first! Even if it is the second oldest film festival in the world, after the Venice Film Festival.
The 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) will celebrate its 80th year from July 3 to July 11 this year, and will do so in the presence of Hollywood stars and new cinematic discoveries. Over the decades, the Czech festival has hosted all kinds of films and celebrities.
But she will nonetheless enjoy some firsts and debuts during the 2026 double anniversary edition, beyond all of her film premieres.
Here’s a quick look at the first-ever lineup for KVIFF 2026.
First film from Myanmar
Burmese writer-director Aung Phewe brings Myanmar’s first KVIFF film to this year’s competition lineup. His first film titled Fruit collection (Thit to you kho).
The film’s cinematographer is Thaiddhi, and editing is handled by Emily Sui. The cast includes Nandar Myat Aung, Nandar Myint Lwin, Theda Swe Khant, Tin Tin Ee and Min Nyo. KVIFF promises to explore “how women’s desires survive in a country where intimacy and love between women remain socially unacceptable.”
The film is described as life in contemporary Myanmar seen through the eyes of two young women, which the festival said “can seem very oppressive”. They work in a textile factory in Yangon, the country’s largest city. “They face stressful work, social oppression and economic uncertainty,” the summary said. “Although the exhausting pace of daily life stifles opportunities for human connection, both women still dream of intimacy and escape. As they grow closer, they stir the previously silent fibers of their emotions.”
The first Colombian film
Writers and directors Esteban Hoyos García and Juan Miguel Gelacio Ramírez Five years and four months (Five years, four months), a co-production between Colombia and the United States, makes its world premiere on the KVIFF competition program, marking the first Colombian film at the Czech festival.
“Not only did Martha lose her eldest son, but to this day, she does not know what happened to him or his remains,” a synopsis on the KVIFF website reads. “After years of searching in vain, she meets Sandra, who offers her another possibility, perhaps her last hope: setting off to a remote place where the line between the living and the dead is blurred. The directing duo…gives voice to Colombian women who, after the disappearance of their children, take the search into their own hands. The film’s subdued, focused narrative draws attention to one of the most painful consequences of the country’s long-standing armed conflict while depicting the search for peace and reconciliation. In a place that has never seen a farewell.
The film, whose cast includes Jenny Nava and Carmina Martinez, features cinematography by Paula Moreno Vergara, with editing by Gelacio Ramírez. Patra Spanou Film handles sales.
A plumber on the Proxima competition jury
In addition to the Crystal Globe Competition, KVIFF also programs the Proxima Competition, now in its fifth year, to provide a space for “daring works by young filmmakers and established auteurs alike” from around the world. It replaced the East-West Competition, which was founded in the 1990s with the aim of helping filmmakers from the former Eastern Bloc.
This year’s Proxma jury includes Jakub Velkman, whose KVIFF bio describes as “Czech screenwriter, festival organizer, film critic, creative producer, director and qualified plumber.” As a script editor, he collaborated on films by Jan Nomic, Peter Wenceslas, Radu Jude and Corneliu Porumboiu.
But did the judging panel for Proxima, or any other KVIFF competition, include a qualified plumber? Not everyone at the festival can remember. “I’m not aware of any trained artisans on the jury before,” says Karel Ochs, the festival’s artistic director. THR. “I’m sure there were plenty of people who could do things by hand, both men and women, but I’m not sure there were trained plumbers. Jacob is an incredibly interesting person, and we’re thrilled he’ll be joining us.”
The first Swiss competition film
Switzerland has been represented at KVIFF before. But no film from the country has been screened in competition – until this year.
Happy family This comes thanks to director Jan-Eric Mack, who has previously produced short films and TV series Wilder and Davos 1917. He co-wrote the screenplay with Anna Schenz, Nikita Afanasijou and Eva Kienholz. Shenz also stars, alongside Michael Neuenschwander, Julia Jentsch, Alireza Bayram, Bettina Stucki, and Martina Apostolova. The film was edited by Benjamin Futter with cinematography by Leonce Roy Emer.
This is another film that explores difficult themes and topics. “Nikki works two jobs, but the little money she earns is barely enough to cover living expenses for herself and her two young children,” a summary on the festival’s website said. “One day, when the children were left unattended, they accidentally set fire to the kitchen, so the Swiss authorities placed them with a foster family on the other side of the country. Although she was forbidden from contacting her children, Nikki decided to track them down.”
The first Swiss film in KVIFF’s main competition truly closes the circle regarding the festival and its long history. “This is a year to look back on our second anniversary. At the first festival in August 1946, our colleagues screened 14 films in 14 days, and one of them was Swiss,” says Oesch. THR. This was Leopold Lindtberg’s refugee drama Last chance (Die Chance Letzte), which was then shown at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. “I am really happy about this connection between a Swiss film in the first edition of the festival, and a Swiss film now in competition, 80 years later.”
