Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic - Mira and Filip would like to
sleep off the night before's partying, but Ryan has other ideas.
'We're going to cram in as many movies as possible before we go
back to Prague,' said the 18-year-old American student.
Ryan has only been in Prague a matter of weeks but he was quick to
join the hordes of students who flock to Karlovy Vary each year for
the small historic Czech spa town's annual film festival.
Camping out and enduring long queues, the mass of students and
young people heading to Karlovy Vary has become a unique feature of
what is one of the world's oldest movie festivals and which prides
itself on being a people's movie festival.
Indeed, film festivals have a reputation for elitism.
But unlike the world's top three film festivals in Cannes, Berlin
and Venice, Karlovy Vary has a somewhat more popular and relaxed feel
it, which many in the movie industry say gives them the chance to pin
down some deals away from the bustle and sometimes self-importance of
other big motion picture events.
The grey monolithic Soviet-era Thermal Hotel, which lies both at
the heart of Karlovy Vary and the festival, is surrounded by vast
tents pumping out beers and dishing out Czech sausages to the buoyant
crowds who descend on the town each year for the festival.
Moreover, the large quantities of beer downed by movie goers
during 8 days of partying in Karlovy Vary appear to have given a new
meaning to the town's fame as a place to take the waters.
But then with a bar it seems at every few paces inside the Thermal
Hotel complex, what else can you expect with the Karlovy Vary's often
youthful movie enthusiasts offering a rather fresher alternative to
the town's normally more staid spa goers.
Cannes might be famous for its Mediterranean beachfront, Berlin
might have its melancholy winters and Venice might have its gondolas.
But nestled between wooded hills dotted with stately baroque
villas and with the Telpa River gently making its way through the
centre of the town, it is hard to deny Karlovy Vary's own special
brand of charm.
No-one seems to mind that that the food does not measure up to
Cannes or that the A-list celebrities are not quite as thick on the
ground as the world's leading movie festivals.
That is not to say that Karlovy Vary is without any star power
with Spanish-born Antonio Banderas, French actress Isabelle Huppert,
US actor John Malkovich and Czech veteran director Milos Forman this
year adding their names to the roll call of movie industry greats who
have made the trip over the years to Karlovy Vary.
This includes Robert Redford, Robert De Niro and Sean Connery.
Without an established film market for movie buying and selling,
which is a major part of festival life in Cannes or Berlin, Karlovy
Vary also appears to have escaped relatively unscathed from the
fallout from the world economic crisis.
While the credit crunch has dampened the spirits at other movie
festivals, Karlovy Vary seems each year to become more glammed up,
kicking off its festival with a Hollywood-style red-carpet opening
night and a glittering black-tie reception at one of the town's
luxury hotels.
What is more, major festival sponsors don't seem to be in the mood
for taking more sober approach to Karlovy Vary.
Mingling with the crowds in Karlovy Vary this year has been
several orange (as opposed to pink) panthers which are the mascots
for one of the festival's key sponsors the Czech energy giant Skupina
Cez.
Like the students who help to rock Karlovy Vary along, the 8-day
festival also represents the chance for the studio bosses to catch up
with some of the world's top new movies.
Karlovy Vary includes in its 200-movie plus program films that
have won critical acclaim in Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Sundance in
the US.
What is more, as a major showcase for Central and Eastern European
cinema, Karlovy Vary is an opportunity to see movies from nations
such as Bulgaria, Albania and Kazakhstan that are going to find it
tough to secure distribution deals.
Having studied the festival's guide, Ryan has mapped out a big
programme for his party weary friends starting with an Israeli sumo
wrestler movie followed by a drama about gang warfare and the Mexican
migrants who try to flee to the US on the roofs of trains. He's got
lots of other ideas.
But then with tickets costing 65 koruna (3.5 dollars) or 50
koruna, why not?
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