‘The Slovak Woody Allen’, an Orwellian bistro and ‘Cupid in the Kremlin Wall’: Inside Book to Screen at KVIFF

Bookworms and others gathered together at the expanded and expanded KVIFF Industry Days program for the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Tuesday for the inaugural Bookworms on Screen screening at KVIFF.

It has included a selection of literary works from Central and Europe that are considered suitable for adaptation for film or television. “Our long-term ambition with Book-to-Screen at KVIFF is to become a true intellectual property marketplace in Central and Eastern Europe that helps develop dialogue between the film and publishing industries and create a more transparent environment for adaptation rights in the region,” said Hugo Russak, Head of Filmmaking Programs at KVIFF.

Overall, eight original literary titles highlight the Czech spa town’s Imperial Spa, which blends traditional and modern architecture, similar to the way the books in focus cover past, present and future. here THRA closer look at the book’s pitches for potential screen adaptations.

Highlights: Publisher Noka Jambashidze described the novel’s heroine, a former revolutionary who acknowledges past mistakes, as a “stubborn woman.” She is also troubled, although she tries to stay hidden. Fiction and historical reality intertwine as real-life characters appear in the novel, including filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein and Raisa Vasilieva. “It really shows the huge cathartic effect on filmmakers,” the publisher explained. Stalin also appears in the photo, and “appears in two different lights,” she joked.

Pitch Highlights: A couple moves from the city to a place in nature. One of the main characters was filmed on mobile phones while dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, the promotion session revealed. “They come to a remote place in nature, but it goes from there,” said publisher Gabriela Kezova.

Pitch Highlights: “This is a coming-of-age story and an unexpected, formative journey of personal growth,” explained publisher Anna Nwaka Devillard, highlighting themes such as courage and resilience. “In the end, she was no longer the same young beaver she had been in the beginning.” She said there were “echoes of Baggins’ Frodo” in this “universal” story. There is no human in the book except a young boy, which indicates how much the story cherishes nature.

Literary agent Livia Stoya explained: “Pitch Highlights: A corrupt politician… who is very happy to make money. He has built his whole life on bribes, until he injured his ankle when he fell into a pit. As a result, he has nightmares that the capital Chisinau he lives in will swallow him up. She explained: “He decides to go to a fortune teller, who tells him to find the Queen of Hearts to get salvation. Otherwise, this hole will swallow the entire capital.” The publisher described the book as a “funny satire of post-communism” and warned the audience not to expect a happy ending.

Pitch Highlights: The protagonist is a history student who becomes the first college graduate in his family, film rights agent Peñas Pirantas told KVIFF. He explained that he doesn’t have a “proper job, so he feels like a failure,” just as his parents feel. “It’s a very harsh, Orwellian cuisine,” he said, noting that “survival is more important than comfort.” But the woman brings a “ray of hope” to his life, until she turns into a pig. Unsurprisingly, the tone was described with words such as “silly” and “dark humour”. Pirantas’ closing pitch: “It’s like a movie delicatessen In Eastern European cuisine.”

The real way out (Czech Republic)
Author: Patrick Banga
Genre: Coming-of-age, autobiography
Publisher: Host
“The right way outjournalist Patrick Banga’s memoir about growing up in the Roma community in Prague’s Žižkov neighborhood in the 1990s, won the Magnesia Litera Award for Best Debut in 2023.

Pitch Highlights: Publisher Michaela Dirmao highlighted the themes of poverty, racism, rejection, and police brutality that the book explores. She explained that the story reflects the author’s childhood experiences. But it’s not all dark and pessimistic. After all, she added, “it also describes the way out of this misery.” “This is an amazing story of a man who never gave up. …It gives you hope. …And it’s full of music.”

Pitch Highlights: Where is the story set in the post-communist era? “In the poorest part of Slovakia,” said publisher František Malik, explaining that there are people with “opposing superpowers.” For example?! “Depression is hereditary. Some people can kill you just by talking.” The novel’s protagonist is “a writer and comic artist who lives alone and has only one friend who disappears.” So he goes looking for it. How does Malik describe the protagonist? “He’s a silly, sad person. I could call him the Slovak Woody Allen – but from the better first half of his career.”