ENGLISH SECTION Festival Daily SPECIAL EDITION OF THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 47TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 free • strana / page 1 Today’s Official day KVIFF goes on DIVÁCKÁ CENA / AUDIENCE AWARD Tomorrow’s program Selection A Musical Odyssey DENÍKU Vote for the best film of the 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival! strana/page 6, 7, 8 strana/page 3 5 strana/page 4 strana/page 2 THE LOWDOWN It’s a reliable sign of a poor Lowdown columnist (and count- I’m a walking IMDb less bloggers, while we’re at it) to lead with a weather report; folks who read columns – and Mark Cousins on film and the rapture of self-loss even blogs – are generally aware of how hot, cold, wet or muggy Veronika Bednářová they feel. But it’s almost impossible not to mention the sweltering heat Northern Irish director and in KV this year, which has had cinéaste Mark Cousins is at Thermal audiences sweating KVIFF with two films – The buckets and nodding off. We just Story of Film: An Odyssey and hope that fans remember to What Is This Film Called Love. bring bottled water along to screenings until things cool off. n Where did your unique Some have, of course, solved love of film come from? the heat issue by heading for the It came from my childhood. pool. A grand party there Sun- I fell in love with cinema as a boy. day evening saw a classic velvet- I just loved it. In Belfast there was rope-type moment, when world- a war on and I was a nervous lit- famous DJ was tle boy but then I would go into told that he would not be al- the cinema and just feel so re- lowed in because the event was laxed. It felt like cinema was tak- “VIP only.” Eventually, some- ing you in its arms and making one was located to explain to the you feel safe and opening win- security guys that Holmes was dows on worlds. And how could quite likely the most V of the IPs you resist? I was born in 1965 so at the event. I first went to the cinema in 1976- But never one for raging ego, 77. Cinema felt very safe. It still the down-to-earth Holmes him- feels very safe. When you’re sit- self ended up getting on fa- ting in the dark you can imagine mously with the veteran DJ who yourself as other people in other was laying down vintage tracks, worlds and I love that. There’s one Ivo Pospíšil, founder of the a lovely phrase that Joseph Radost FX music shop who Campbell has – “the rapture of could be described as Prague’s self-loss.” And that’s what cinema answer to Terri Hooley, the affords, the rapture of self-loss. subject of KVIFF opening film n There wasn’t any specific Good Vibrations, which Holmes film life in the 1970s in Belfast soundtracked. was there? The pair even swapped email Photo: Jan Handrejch No, on the contrary. It was pret- addresses so that they could lat- ty dead. But there was TV. There Better than Google: director Mark Cousins is a fount of cinema knowledge. er swap track recommendations. was the BBC. And I saw Alfred Tunes really do build bridges, folks! n Hitchcock films on TV; I saw that time helped you to latch on sons you and got tively open and they’re sucking in n The project that you are in- films on TV. And to the medium of cinema? together to work with the 8½ everything, so it’s a good time to troducing here, The Story of also there was a video black mar- I think people who feel slightly Foundation? get to a child and say look at this Film: An Odyssey, can it ever be ket so we watched horror movies like outsiders find themselves in- Yes, she and I founded that to- plenitude, look at this extraordi- topped? It seems like you’ve NOTICE on old video tapes. I remember side in the cinema. I now work gether. We didn’t know each oth- nary medium, this luminosity. done everything now. There will be two additional seeing The Exorcist. We were with Tilda Swinton, the great actor er till we were grown-ups but we n It’s like a Fellini movie It’s a big piece of work obvi- public screenings of Sára Cser- brought up very Catholic and my and she says we’re all outsiders. both fell in love with cinema isn’t it? ously. It took six years. It was sort halmi’s Dear Betrayed Friends aunt got holy water and blessed All the movie lovers are from an- around the age of 8½. So we It’s totally like a Fellini movie. of made in a way for my boyhood and one for press and industry. the video recorder before she put other planet, from the Planet Cin- thought it would be great to try Why it’s like a Fellini movie is of self. Somebody who had an ap- The latter takes place tomorrow in the tape of The Exorcist and ema, we’re all weirdos and let’s try and create a magic moment, course when you see films as petite for cinema, a curiosity for at 12:30pm in the Thermal’s I remember thinking if you have not to be other than weirdos. So all a threshold moment in a child’s a child there are lots of things you cinema. I wanted to make a kind Cinema B; the public screenings to bless a machine this must be so of these people here [at KVIFF] life halfway between their 8th and don’t understand like sex and of roadmap, saying look at this will be held at 4:30pm on July 5 powerful, this medium of cinema. are weirdos. They’re from the 9th birthdays. Because when morality and all sorts of things, world of cinema. It was great fun. Planet Cinema. You too. a child is that age, they’re not yet but you still have a sense that at the Pupp Cinema and at n n 12:30pm on July 6 in the Čas Do you think your feeling of I don’t deny it at all. Is trying to be cool, not yet teenag- there’s an amazing world out n nervousness regarding reality at your childhood one of the rea- er. Their minds are still imagina- there that you see in the movie. Continued on page 2 fl Cinema.

SEE YOU THERE EXPLAINER Dan Sallitt KV’s (sometimes surprising) film cameos When seen from the right angle, Karlovy Vary’s Director, The Unspeakable Act certainly a star, even when its trademark festival's not up and running. That (and just possibly cheaper food One of the many films I’m looking forward to seeing is and accommodation rates than those of Prague) have Holy Motors by Leos Carax who is obviously a very well- won it prominent roles in lots of films shot in the known French filmmaker. He hasn’t made any films for Czech Republic. a few years other than a while back, when he made a short Just about everyone remembers the city's prome- film in a portmanteau movie called Tokyo, which was ex- nades popping up in a fantasy version of Montene- tremely good. The buzz on Holy Motors ever since its Photo: KVIFF gro, where people like James Bond come to bluff and screening at Cannes a little while ago has been very excit- melt girls' hearts with their card sharp acumen as he ing. I don’t know what actually happens in the film be- feature Shanghai Knights (subbing for a slightly sun- did in Casino Royale (pictured). The Grandhotel cause I’ve been trying to keep myself a virgin for it. It nier 19th-century ). sounds as if Carax has done something extraordinary and Pupp becomes the ridiculously opulent Hotel Splen- And let us not forget Hostel Part II − even if audi- he has certainly done some extraordinary things in the past, dide, a veritable den of intrigue and dodgy dealings. ences and distributors did pretty quickly − in which so this has to be one of my must-see films while I’m here. The role of the casino itself was performed with gus- Karlovy Vary showed off its more sinister side. Who to by the Lázně I building, in reality a venerable 19th- knew this city could pass itself off as an Italian town Holy Motors screens today at 10:30pm in the Ther- century spa facility. in which feisty American girls show would-be evil- mal’s Grand Hall and on July 6 at 9:30pm in the Small A few also recall Queen Latifah showing us that doers what a bad idea it is to mess with them? Hall, also at the Thermal. you can actually see the Alps from your Karlovy Vary With the Czech Republic's new 20-percent cash- You can catch Dan Sallitt’s film, The Unspeakable Act, hotel window, as she did in Wayne Wang's Last back production incentive now in force, it looks like today at 1pm in the Thermal’s Congress Hall, tomorrow Holiday while contemplating life and the secrets of a good bet that you'll be seeing the city in many more at 7pm in the same venue, and on July 7 at 10am in the Cajun cooking. films to come − especially when that elegant Old Eu- Espace Dorleans Cinema. (COC) Photo: KVIFF The city's riverfront has even been spotted in rope look is needed (but only a modern indie budget movies as unlikely as the action-packed is on tap). (WT)

[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 47TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STRANA / PAGE 2 TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012

I’m a walking IMDb WHAT AM I Pena˜ on European film DOING HERE? collaborate with loads of people. fl Continued from page 1 I used three songs by PJ Harvey Veronika Bednářová Irena Taskovski and the great composer Sam Fisher Taskovski Films, UK/Bosnia n It’s extraordinary how you Turner, so I got to work with these Richard Peña is the Program do it in an understandable way. extraordinary musicians. Director for the Film Society of It’s not overly academic. n You know so many interest- Lincoln Center and Director of Absolutely. The word auteur ing people. the New York Film Festival. He does not appear in 15 hours; the I do know loads of people. is this year’s President of the phrase mise-en-scène does not ap- I think the reason is that people see Grand Jury at KVIFF.

pear in 15 hours. Because it’s so that I’m so passionate about what Jan Handrejch Photo: easy to put an ordinary person off I do, In the music world lots of n Do you remember seeing and say, “This is not for you.” And music people are also fascinated your first movie? of course cinema is the most dem- by cinema and want to know more I think the first movie I saw that ocratic art and therefore when we about cinema and they see me as I remember seeing in a movie the- talk about it we have to talk about a sort of walking IMDb. “We can’t ater was Jason and the Argonauts. it in an open and available way. be bothered to google. Who di- I distinctly remember the sword- Not compromising the ideas in rected this film in 1942?” And fight against the skeletons. It n So what do you do at KV- cinema, not trying to make it look I like that. Also, I teach and write seemed rather sad, as there's no Photo: Jan Handrejch IFF? like a lesser art than it is, but cer- a lot about creativity – the creative way you can stab a skeleton. KVIFF Grand Jury President Richard Peña. We have a film in Karlovy tainly making it available and ac- process and work and why it’s so n How did your family back- Vary every year and we represent cessible. That’s crucial. fulfilling. What musicians and ground affect your taste in n Do you have a favorite tain "elite" reputation among film- some very well-known Czech n I’ve seen your Mexico trav- filmmakers and actors all have in movies? Czech movie? makers and audiences. We also documentary makers, such as elogue What Is This Film Called common – this idea of creativity I think my family background I'm a great fan of Marketa don't give prizes of any sort. The Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák, and Love. It really contrasts with and how to keep it going, how to affected me by always reminding Lazarová and František Vlácil's NYFF, I should add, shows much Helena Třeštíková. your 15-hour film. keep the juices going, how not to me that there was an alternative to work in general. I also very much more than European cinema, and n Are any of your films It’s kind of a reaction to that in lose it, how not to get distracted by American culture – there was like Distant Journey; for me it’s I think it's fair to say we've been showing at the fest? a way, after doing 15 hours in six money or institutions. American dancing, and Latin the best of the early Holocaust a key platform for Chinese, - We have a film this year from years on a very direct path so I just n Do you still feel the same ex- dancing, American music and Lat- films. Recently, I was very much ian, Korean, Argentine, Israeli and Uruguay by first-time director wanted to go off-piste as they say citement when you see a great in music, American movies and taken with Something Like Happi- other international cinemas. Alicia Cano. It’s called The Bel- and just wander a little bit. As I say movie? Latin movies... Once you accept ness. And of course the Czech n How do you foresee the fu- la Vista and it had its world pre- in my Mexican film, I’ve made Even more so. I always feel that the existence of an alternative, New Wave, which has a powerful ture of European cinema? miere on July 2 as part of the films with neo-Nazis in them and I watch movies like a child. De- then it opens you up to many oth- link to the New York Film Festival. The most important thing for documentary films competition. the Gulf War and lots of serious fenses down. Even intellectual fac- er possibilities. If two, why not n In what way is the New European cinema is to be seen first The director, Alicia, and the pro- social issues and I wanted to just ulties put to one side. Watch it three? York Film Festival different and foremost by other Europeans. ducer Thomas Mauch, whose experiment, like strumming a gui- open-hearted and open-spirited n How do you see the festival from other film festivals? Although there are multiple agen- cinematography work you might tar. I always like the way people and as soon as the film finishes in Karlovy Vary in the interna- Now celebrating its 50th year, cies to promote "European" cine- know from Fitzcarraldo, are work in the music world, where then you use your adult ability to tional context? the New York Film Festival is dis- ma, I still think the concept has both here. they’re not afraid to improvise and analyze and reflect. Was I moved? Karlovy Vary is a widely re- tinguished from other, especially little resonance with the vast ma- n What else? see what happens or to make per- Why was I moved? Was that es- spected festival that has become North American festivals, by its jority of Europeans. There are We’re also here to attend the sonal work. Some of the best mu- thetically interesting? Why? known as a great platform for new size. Unlike festivals that show enormous talents throughout Eu- Docu Talents from the East sic is very personal. I sent the I think for me that’s the way it cinema emerging from Central 200, 300 or even 400+ films, we rope and a strong sense of pre- event, which is taking place to- rough cut [of What Is This Film works best. I can maximize the re- and Eastern Europe. It also has the only show 25-28 films in a given serving and promoting cinematic day in the Thermal at 1:30pm, Called Love] to PJ Harvey the sponse. I always sit in the front reputation of being a very young year, which has been our practice patrimony, so I think the future of because that’s how we find new great composer and she sent me row to be as close as possible to festival, with those youthful audi- since the NYFF's founding in European cinema looks pretty talent, and take their films on songs for it, so it allowed me to the screen. n ences we're all trying to attract. 1963. Thus, we have gained a cer- good. n board to represent them. (COC) REVIEWERS RECOMMEND Czech, please! Pokud zabloudíš ve Varech, or if you get lost in Karlovy Vary, some of these phrases might help you Stephen Farber to get directions from the locals: Film critic, The Hollywood Reporter Jak se dostanu do kina ...? (Yak se dost-anoo do Keena...) − How can I get to the Cinema...? Kde je hotel Thermal? (Gdeh yeh hotel Thermal) − Where is the Hotel Thermal? Beasts of the Southern Wild Kudy se jde na kolonádu? (Koody seh deh na kol-o-nadoo) – How do I get to the collonade? Director: Benh Zeitlin Hledám autobusové nádraží (Hled-aahm ow-toe-bus-ovay nad-razhee) − I’m looking for the bus station USA, 2011, 91 min Je to daleko/je to blízko? (Ye to bleezko/dal-echo) − Is it near/far? July 3, 2pm, Grand Hall − Thermal Je to hrozná dálka (Yeh to hroz-nah dahl-ka) − It’s miles away This award-winner from Sundance and Cannes confirms the vitality Je to kousek odsud (Ye to koe-sek od-sud) − It’s just a little way away of American independent cinema. It’s a unique exploration of a father- Je to hned za rohem (Yeh to hi-ned za roe-hem) − It’s just around the corner daughter relationship and a regional community often overlooked by Je to na opačném konci města. (Yeh to na opatchnem kontsee myesta) − It’s at the other end of town mainstream filmmakers. Set in Louisiana at the time of a devastating Jděte rovně a pak odbočte doleva/doprava (Deh-tay rovnyeh a pak od-botch-tay doe-lev-ah/doe-prav-ah) − storm, the film may make you think of the people forgotten in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But it’s Go straight and then turn left/right not a political message movie; it’s a rare example of poetic cinema that is innovative and deeply stirring. Jděte rovnou za nosem (Deh-tay rovnyeh za nosem) − Go straight on (lit. Go straight after your nose) It comes with an electrifying musical score and marvelously atmospheric cinematography. Promiňte, ztratil/a jsem se (Pro-min-tay straat-eel sem seh) − Excuse me, I’m lost The Deep Blue Sea Promiňte, prosím, kde je tu bankomat? (Pro-min-tay pro-seem gdeh yeh bankomat) − Excuse me, where can I find an ATM here? Director: Terence Davies Nemůžu najít poštu (Ne-moo-zhoo nai-yeet po-shtu) − I can’t find the post office (COC/PH) UK, 2011, 98 min July 3, 7pm, Richmond Cinema To celebrate the centenary of the birth of noted British playwright and screenwriter Terence Rattigan, many revivals of his well known FACES plays have been mounted. Terence Davies directed this new screen ver- sion of one of Rattigan’s memorable studies of sexual desire and re- pression. Rachel Weisz gives a splendid performance as a married woman torn between a staid husband and a reckless lover. This was one of Rattigan’s favorite themes – the war between responsibility and sex- ual bliss. Davies has an innate understanding of the central theme. The film is a bit slowly paced, but it’s beautifully designed and undeniably affecting. Terraferma Director: Emanuele Crialese Italy, France, 2011, 88 min Kenneth Lornegan Todd Solondz Masato Harada Ali Mosaffa Jacob Dammas Péter Bergendy July 3, 7pm, Congress Hall − Thermal There are some pretty well- think about there. Also competing And from Hungary, director Péter Many recent movies from all around the world have dealt with the known faces in town today. Keep is Polski film, whose co-star Bergendy and actor János Kulka subject of immigration, a hot-button topic in many places. Italy’s sub- your eye out for highly respected Tomáš Matonoha is due today. arrive today to compete in the East mission for the foreign language Oscar of 2011 is an eloquent addition American writer/director Kenneth This film also blurs the line be- of the West section with The Ex- to this thriving new genre. An Italian fishing family struggles in an eco- Lornegan, whose eagerly antici- tween real and fictional filmmak- am, a psychological secret police nomic downturn, and their problems multiply when a group of shipwrecked Africans wash up in their vil- pated Margaret is part of Horizons ing, but takes care to remind us thriller about loyalty and friend- lage. As they get to know the African visitors, they find their complacency challenged. The moral dilem- this year. He’s joined by two other that “The fact that I’m playing ship under Communism. ma facing the family is incisively rendered by director Emanuele Crialese and a skillful troupe of actors. Horizons writer/directors, Todd myself doesn’t mean that this is Forum of Independents feature Solondz, with Dark Horse, and actually me.” Jan Budař, Czech debut director Jan Ole Gerster Come As You Are Masato Harada, whose Chroni- actor and musician, arrives today gets into town today for the Director: Geoffrey Enthoven cle of My Mother he adapted from for Polski film as well, but he’s al- world premiere of his character Belgium, 2011, 115 min Yasushi Inoue’s novel. so in Lidice and Long Live the study Oh Boy. He’s joined by July 3, 10pm, Drahomíra Cinema Look out for beloved Iranian Family in the Czech Films selec- Aleksey Igudesman, director of star , who is expect- tion. the star-studded arch mockumen- Belgian cinema has been thriving lately, and this crowd-pleasing ed to arrive today for the Official Jacob Dammas and Helge tary Noseland, star and producer comic drama (an audience award winner at several festivals) indicates Selection competition entry The Renner, the writing/directing duo Julian Rachlin and editor Se- the diversity of new Belgian cinema. Inspired by a true story, the film Last Step. She plays an actress behind Polish Illusions, arrive to- bastian Leitner. Also arriving focuses on three handicapped men who decide to defy their disability called Leila, who loses her control day for the documentary competi- for FOI today is writer/director and travel to Spain to visit a brothel that caters to men with special needs. Their families resist the idea after the death of her husband. tion. Another powerful contender Rony Sasson Angel, here with of a road trip, but when they find a driver, they manage to set out on an adventure. Uproariously funny as The husband is played by her ac- this year is the troubling Sofia’s Wherever You Go, and In a Bed- well as deeply poignant, Geoffrey Enthoven’s film may not be a prestige picture, but it represents the best tual husband, the film’s writer and Last Ambulance, directed, shot room’s writer/director Tomasz in offbeat, audience-friendly entertainment. n director Ali Mosaffa. Lots to and co-edited by Ilian Metev. Wasilewski. (PLC)

[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 47TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012 STRANA / PAGE 3

OFFICIAL SELECTION OFFICIAL SELECTION Nos Vemos Papa – To Kill a Beaver – an intimate the insidious look at loss recesses of the human mind Will Tizard Barbora Baronová The Mexican entry in the Offi- cial Selection race, Nos Vemos Pa- Dubbed a distinctive film nar- pa (or See You, Dad) is a haunting rator, bard of magical realism, and brooding study of grief, mem- and poet of image in his native ory, and the fight for resolution in Poland, writer/director Jan Jakub the wake of a sudden tragedy. Kolski is now going to be known Director and screenwriter Lucía as a prophet too. In his feature To Carreras’s story hinges on the af- Kill a Beaver he forecast the fate termath wrought by the death of of a man without a past who was her heroine Pilar’s father – an discovered earlier this year in the event that forces the young Tatra Mountains. woman to confront her “near That film explores the topic of pathological dependence on him,” the return of a professional sol- as observers of the film have de- Photo: KVIFF dier to routine, tedious, everyday Photo: KVIFF scribed it. Cecilia Suarez in Mexican film Nos Vemos Papa. life. It opens with the solitary To Kill a Beaver looks at how war affects the psyche. As Pilar reels from her loss, the character of Eryk arriving at an psychological suspense story that So far the film has only screened But it’s a sojourn that surely abandoned farm. At first it seems Eryk Lubos helped me a lot by a soldier’s psyche after returning follows takes us through a maze outside Mexico in Ventana Sur, transcends Latin American cul- that only the ubiquitous beavers thoroughly researching the topic from a mission. of traps with escalating despera- Argentina, and the European Film ture, the director believes. “The will keep him company, until ahead of shooting.” “After the test screening, view- tion as the relationships in the rest Market at the Berlinale, but those international appeal of the film, a sassy girl floats into his life on That topic was made all the ers told me they struggled to be- of the family are revealed and were industry screenings. “In that I think, will come from different a raft. She has occupied Eryk’s more relevant by real-life events lieve what they saw. But when tested. The look and mood of the sense, Karlovy Vary will be the aspects… For me, the film ex- house in his absence and has no that unfolded just as the film was the ‘commando from the Tatras’ images draw us into this shadowy city where audiences from outside plores deep layers of emotions intention of leaving, but she has being completed. “When the film was found, they changed their world while Carreras never com- Mexico will see, for the first time, that are also appealing to audi- no idea how insidious the human was almost finished, there was minds.” promises on emotional honesty or Nos Vemos Papa − it is our inter- ences.” mind can be while processing se- a breaking news story in Poland The sensitive film has a sur- resorts to melodrama. national premiere,” says Carreras. The exploration of the darker rious trauma. of an Afghanistan veteran who prising ending. “I wanted to tell The director calls Nos Vemos According to Carreras, the film palette is something that res- “I wanted to create a hero was found in the Tatras. His iden- a love story,” Kolski says. “It’s Papa “a very intimate story,” originated with her interest in ex- onates in Central Europe, as whose worlds are getting mixed tity was unknown for many days gloomy, powerful, passionate, adding that “the rhythm and the ploring loss. “I thought that if this well, says Carreras. “Connecting up. It happens to people who are until it was finally established he but still a love story. While we tone were an important aspect.” person had devoted her/his life to with the people of the land of pushed to their limits. I remem- was a war hero who was dis- were shooting, my mother was That feeling is quite apart from somebody, starting from a very Kafka, obviously, is a big deal ber those states of mind from the charged after a number of mis- dying and I transferred my suf- most movies coming out of Mex- early age, the absence would then for us and it will be amazing to time when I was engaged in cav- sions. His family thought he was fering to the film. More misfor- ico these days, which tend toward make the character go to really in- hear what they got from the ing. I wrote the script two years still on a mission while he was tunes surrounded the film. To tell lighter fare and audience films. teresting places. Those places will movie.” ago on an impulse which eventu- lying in a tent in the mountains, you the truth, I am surprised it Carreras, by contrast, "took inspi- be a limbo where Pilar goes.” ally turned out to be secondary. frostbitten, and drinking water didn’t end up killing me.” ration from innovative trends in The journey is a tricky, some- Nos Vemos Papa screens to- During the shooting I discarded made from melted snow.” the Mexican film industry but still times deceptive one, she adds. “I day at 5pm in the Thermal’s most of what I had prepared. Kolski hopes the veteran’s case To Kill a Beaver screens today managed to find her own style,” do not know if I will call this Grand Hall and at 1pm tomor- I surrendered to intuition and my will change Polish society’s atti- at 8pm in the Thermal’s Grand in the words of KVIFF program- world surreal rather than imagi- row in the Espace Dorleans Cin- inner voice, which allowed me to tude to the serious but neglected Hall and tomorrow at 10am in mers. nary.” ema. n ‘hear’ Eryk’s mind. The lead issue of the impact of war on the Espace Dorleans Cinema. n

Panter z Varù: na vlnách publika

Skupina ÈEZ, geniální panter 47. roèníku MFF Karlovy Vary

SKUPINA ČEZ www.cez.cz/mff kv

[email protected] FESTIVAL DAILY THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DAILY OF THE 47TH KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STRANA / PAGE 4 TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012 KVIFF goes on A Musical Odyssey

Photo: KVIFF Photo: KVIFF Photo: KVIFF LCD Soundsystem Shut Up and Play the Hits. Romany dreams in Bells of Happiness. Avante-garde composers explore The Reach of Resonance. Peter Le Couteur and NYC electropunks LCD guistic, political and conceptual African pop songs he reworked; dom fighters, John Luther Adams maybe even change how you think Soundsystem), and other, stranger borders is a strong theme in the one is about how nice it was when led the movement to protect the about sound. At first glance, this year’s music areas of musical documentary section 2012: A Musical Odyssey, women wore miniskirts. And one Alaskan wilderness through the Adams, who stopped campaign- documentary selection seems to work. whose title alone is suggestive of memorable verse on I Know What creation of national parks, and Jon ing to focus on composing, asks have little in the way of common Marek Šulík and Jana Bučka’s this kind of radical journey. The I Know can be translated some- Rose has become famous through- especially relevant questions about themes. Pavel Klusák, head of the Bells of Happiness tells the story documentary Under African Skies thing like, “Kill an owl because out the world for using cello bows the place of art in a time of so section, explains how they chose of two Slovakian Romany cousins follows the story of Paul Simon’s there’s no chicken, but don’t wor- to play fences. Starting in the clas- much conflict and destruction. For the eight films on offer: “It’s easy! who dream of living the life of the album Graceland, recorded during ry, if we cut the head off it’ll look sical tradition, Rose pushed the people like Adams in central Alas- The film must be relevant on both gods, in this case the luxurious the worst years of Apartheid, on just like a chicken. We can eat it on form of the violin, adding longer ka, where rising temperatures a filmic and musical level. And realm of mullets and misty lenses the occasion of its 25th anniver- the train.” With luminaries like and longer strings, until he sud- mean winter often comes months what’s most important: there must inhabited by Karel Gott and Dari- sary. Simon travels back to South Maya Angelou, David Byrne, denly looked around him and real- late, and huge icebergs crash into be the zeitgeist hidden inside. Shut na Rolincová. The two cousins de- Africa to meet both the musicians Whoopi Goldberg and Peter ized that Australia is strung with the sea every day, the growing eco- Up and Play The Hits, for exam- cide to send a video greeting to who worked with him on the al- Gabriel on the cast list, this is def- millions of kilometers of resonat- logical devastation is extremely ple, shows a group [LCD their two idols, along with a Roma bum and the African National initely not to be missed. ing wires. These fences are deeply evident. “What meaning does art Soundsystem] that helped erase remix of Zvonky šťastia (Bells of Congress spokespeople he an- Contentious borderlines feature embedded in Australia’s short and have in a world that is literally a border between the independent Happiness), which still resonates gered by breaking their interna- heavily in the stand-out work this brutal history, absurd signs of melting?” he asks. But, as he re- scene and the mainstream.” with them almost 30 years after its tional cultural boycott. This is year for anyone interested in the Western culture’s insistence on counts, Claude Monet was feeling This theme of erasing borders release. Despite their prayers, nei- a well-made look at a sensitive boundaries between experimental imposing straight lines of division the same guilt, shuffling out to the certainly has powerful relevance ther the fans nor the filmmakers subject, with a wider relevance music and activism, Steve Elkins’ on places and peoples where they garden to paint water lilies with today, and runs through the tradi- ever succeed in contacting their about the interaction of art and The Reach of Resonance. What have no relevance. Drawing haunt- the front lines of WWI only 35km tional VH1 “Behind the Music”- personal Gott, and their dreams of politics. Simon is adamant that he starts off as a depiction of four oth- ing music from these fences has away. And as Adams says, “we style work on iconic artists (Paul doing so are set against the trou- did not want to make a political erworldly avant-garde composers led him around the world, to the would all be so much poorer if Simon, ambient pioneer Brian bles of the Roma people in Slova- record, that working with black swiftly builds into an elegant artificial lines carved between Is- Monet hadn’t shuffled out to the Eno, or free-jazz saxophonist kia, trapped by physical and cul- African musicians was a musical demonstration of the links be- rael and Palestine, or Mexico and garden to paint those water lilies, Peter Brötzmann), the attempts to tural segregation and endemic decision, and that music does not tween cultural experimentation Arizona. Rose’s work is just one even in the middle of a war...those capture the style and surround- poverty. need to be controlled by its politi- and radical political gestures. Bob thread in this balanced, thoughtful spaces he created...were his last ings of live performances (by Segregation and the question of cal circumstances. As proof of Ostertag spent years in El Sal- piece, guaranteed to introduce you great gift to his fellow human be- transcendent Icelanders Sigur Rós music’s ability to transcend lin- this, he cites the content of the vador campaigning for the free- to new ideas, new directions, and ings.” n

ON THE TOWN Foot-tapping Czech percus- Panoptikum Tandoor sion maestros The Tap Tap are Bělehradská 3 I P Pavlova 25 giving a drumming workshop in the beautiful ☎ 728 520 822 ☎ 608 701 341 today at 4pm Open 10am-“around 2am” www.tandoor-kv.cz Mlýnská kolonáda to get every- one in the swing of things before With pleasant wood-lined walls Open noon-9pm Mon-Sat, their Concert for the Jedlička displaying fascinating photos noon-6pm Sun Institute Foundation at 8pm at from Karlovy Vary’s rich and col- Long an oasis of convenient, affordable, colorful, and spicy Poštovní dvůr (Slovenská 2). orful past, Panoptikum is a cozy The Jedlička Institute was es- cuisine, Tandoor is the family- eatery specializing in traditional tablished in 1913 to help the run place that festival veterans Czech fare at reasonable prices. Czech disabled community, run- have been slipping off to, and re- As is typical for such dumpling- ning a school in Prague and or- turning to, for years. It’s just two friendly cuisine, the food is a little ganizing events. Many of the simple rooms secreted in the heavy, particularly as the portions members of The Tap Tap are courtyard of an apartment block are almost ridiculously generous. former students of the Prague just around the corner from the That is just a minor quibble school, and they’ve done amaz- Thermal, but it’s as welcoming though, as overall we were very ing work raising awareness, and unpretentious a place as impressed with the personable playing in festivals around Eu- you’ll ever find. Starters include and relaxed service as well as the rope and working with well- some mouthwatering Indian spe- delicious draft beer on offer from known Czech musicians like cialties such as dahl, onion bhaji Photo: KVIFF the boutique Švijany brewery. Dan Bárta. Entry to the concert and meat-stuffed paratha (30-60 Panoptikum is a little off the beat- Panoptikum’s walls comprise a photographic guide to Karlovy Vary’s colorful past. is by voluntary contribution, and en track, but is definitely worth CZK). Follow that up with the you can be sure whatever you CZK). You can get chicken, beef, cluding chapatis, garlic and with Czech beer on draft, like the trek if you fancy a less hectic city’s most appealing vegetarian give will be used wisely. Excel- lamb, or prawn versions of these cheese nans (25-45 CZK). Some Gambrinus (25-35 CZK). Also, and crowded dining experience menu, which offers palak, lent music in support of an ex- classics by adding 40 CZK or so. swear they achieve enlighten- watch out for the special fast fes- than you’ll find in most restau- bhaji, veggie madras, vindaloo, cellent cause. (PLC) rants on the main strip. (COC) spinach, and jal frezi (85-145 All the usual sides are here, in- ment when combining the above tival menu. (WT)

DAILIES

Photo: Milan Malíček Photo: Jan Handrejch Photo: Milan Malíček The ČEZ cat gets down with the kids. Variety’s Ten Euro Directors to Watch. The Jedlička Institute collection.

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