Prague, June 29 (CTK) - The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, to be held in the west Bohemian spa town June 30-July 8, will present over 23 feature films and documentaries, 15 of them in world premiere and 39 in international or European premiere.
The festival will start on Friday with the world premiere of Time, a film by renowned South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, who will attend the event.
At the opening ceremony, Andy Garcia, actor and director of Cuban origin, will be presented with the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. A day later he will present his debut as a film director, The Lost City, in European premiere.
At the end of the festival, Czech director and scriptwriter Jan Nemec and American Robert Shaye, producer of the Lord of the the Rings, will receive awards for their life contribution to world cinematography.
Among the major festival "stars" are French director and producer Luc Besson, who will introduce his film Angel-A, and U.S. film-maker Terry Gilliam, linked for years with the British Monty Python?s Flying Circus, who will attend the Czech premiere of his latest film Tideland.
Fifteen feature films will participate in the main competition, six of them will be presented in world premiere.
The grand jury is chaired by Goran Paskaljevic, one of the most distinguished directors from the former Yugoslavia, who graduated from Prague´s Film Academy.
Among other famous festival guests are French actress Jacqueline Bisset, who will return to Karlovy Vary in two years, as well as the group of actresses who feature in Spanish Pedro Almodovar´s latest film Volver.
The festival budget is put at CZK 110 million to 115 million. The state has earmarked CZK 25 million, while the town of Karlovy Vary has contributed CZK 7 million and the Karlovy Vary Region gave CZK 2.7 million to the festival. The rest is covered by festival´s partners and sponsors.
More information on the festival is available on www.kviff.com.
(USD1=22.618 crowns)
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This story copyright 2006 CTK Czech News Agency.
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