- Title: Scaled-down Czech film festival opens in empty auditorium
- Date: 3rd July 2020
- Summary: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC (FILE - JUNE 28, 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MAIN VENUE FOR 2019 EDITION OF KARLOVY VARY FILM FESTIVAL VARIOUS OF ACTRESS, JULIANNE MOORE, SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND TAKING SELFIES WITH FANS KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC (FILE - JULY 6, 2019) (REUTERS) ACTRESS, PATRICIA CLARKSON, POSING FOR MEDIA ON RED CARPET AUDIENCE APPLAUDING INSIDE VENUE FOR AWARD CEREMONY CLARKSON BEING ESCORTED TO THE STAGE CLARKSON EMBRACING FESTIVAL PRESIDENT AUDIENCE APPLAUDING BULGARIAN DIRECTOR, KRISTINA GROZEVA, SPEAKING AFTER WINNING AWARD AUDIENCE APPLAUDING AWARD WINNERS POSING WITH AWARDS
- Embargoed: 17th July 2020 20:58
- Keywords: Film Festival Karlovy Vary coronavirus culture
- Location: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA002CL9AFY1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A Czech film festival disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic unveiled a scaled-down programme of movies on Friday (July 3) with an opening ceremony in an empty auditorium and a star-free red carpet.
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, central and eastern Europe's leading movie extravaganza, announced in April it was cancelling its main events as the novel coronavirus shuttered cinemas and mass gatherings.
Restrictions have since eased, allowing the festival's president, actor Jiri Bartoska, to unveil a list of 16 foreign and domestic films on Friday.
He gave his speech in the festival's main venue, with the red carpet laid out at the entrance but no guests around to walk on it this year.
In the speech, recorded to be screened at the cinemas before each film, Bartoska dedicated the festival's Crystal Globe award to cinema managers and spectators. "This year, (the festival) goes to you, next year you come to us," he added.
The event usually draws A-list celebrities, dozens of films and hundreds of fans to the screening rooms in the spa town of Karlovy Vary from June to July.
This year organisers said the 16 films will instead be screened in 96 cinemas across the country.
Among this year's films are South Africa's "Moffie" which tells the tale of an army conscript attracted to a fellow soldier, and French/German production "Proxima", about an astronaut preparing for her mission while caring for her young daughter.
Organisers say the full festival, that was founded in 1946, will return in 2021.
(Production: David Cerny, Hanna Rantala, Lewis MacDonald, Anna Dabrowska) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None