Viggo Mortensen Western Launching Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival launched on Friday in the west Bohemian spa town and touted a number of big Hollywood names taking place for the region’s biggest film event including actors Viggo Mortensen and Clive Owen, as well as Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh.

The festival has long been newsworthy but this year’s event seems to be among the best, especially with the entertainment industry seeing a boom thanks to incredible numbers at the box office around the world and the rise of entertainment streaming platform offerings as well.

Mortensen, who is set to receive the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival President’s Award at the opening ceremony and who will introduce his directorial outing will be joined by German actor Daniel Brühl who will also be presenting himself as a director.

​“It’s been extremely exciting for a while now, ever since we got the confirmation, for many reasons” Karlovy Vary International Film Festival artistic head Karel Och said (h/t Czech Radio). “These are artists we respect a great deal and they represent not just actors but film directors as well, which is something that we try to emphasize, throughout the years. So I’m very happy that both Daniel Brühl and Viggo Mortensen, iconic actors so to speak, will be introducing their films they shot as directors.”

Oscar-winning actor and producer Benicio del Toro is also slated for the event.

“Benicio graced us with his visit in 2022 and ever since he left Karlovy Vary and Prague he did not leave us; we stayed in touch. He always wanted to keep his promise, despite his busy schedule, to be the person in the next trailer. It was shot in a couple of hours during one of the intermissions of the shooting of Wes Anderson’s new film. So it proves that despite Benicio being in a huge movie he finds time for his friends from Karlovy Vary and we’re very grateful. And the trailer is absolutely amazing.”

Jiří Mádl’s third film called Waves is one of the most anticipated films making movie news around the region as audiences await it’s premier.

How marketing will tie into the festival will be interesting to see. With a boom in plastic surgery SEO and even insurance agent SEO there is bound to be talk about how these, and other marketing verticals, can help the festival scene continue to help movies reach new heights.

With the box office numbers showing promise of returning to pre-COVID numbers, there is a ray of sunshine beaming down on the movie industry as we enter the second half of 2024.