The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) gets to fete a dual anniversary this year, thanks to its 60th edition in its 80th year. And it will, as is tradition, celebrate world premieres from around the world, new hidden gems just waiting to be discovered and highlights from the recent festival circuit.
But Central Europe’s biggest cinema party, running July 3-11, will also once again screen offbeat, edgy, sometimes even bizarre-sounding movies.
So, lean back, get comfortable and buckle up for a wild ride as THR presents its look at some of the more unusual and outlandish-sounding films that KVIFF will unspool during its 2026 edition.
Black Money for White Nights (Cherni pari za beli noshti)
Directors: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
Section: Crystal Globe Competition
‘Black Money for White Nights’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
Courtesy of KVIFF
The Bulgarian director duo won the best film prize at KVIFF in 2019 with their film The Father (Bashtata). At the anniversary edition, they will world premiere Black Money for White Nights, which they wrote with Decho Taralezhkov.
Tanya Shahova, Ivan Savov, Margita Gosheva, Ivan Barnev and Sibila Petrova star in the tragicomic portrait of a generation forced to reassess its values as it must question everything in post-Soviet society.
“After years of saving money from the small bribes they collect, 60-year-old Marina and her husband Gosha from Bulgaria are preparing for their dream trip to St. Petersburg to witness the White Nights,” a natural phenomenon in which the sun never dips far enough below the horizon to cause complete darkness, reads a synopsis for the film. “But when Russia invades Ukraine, and the travel agency vanishes with all their savings, the couple’s dream collapses along with their illusion of control over their moral principles and the relationship they have with each other.”
My Friend the Porn Star (Mein Freund der Pornstar)
Director: Rosa Friedrich
Section: Proxima
‘My Friend the Porn Star’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
Check out this documentary pitch, or synopsis: “Rosa – the director Rosa Friedrich herself – was never that interested in porn, until her friend Timo expresses a wish to star in an erotic film. So Rosa agrees to help him get his project off the ground.”
Not interested yet? Read this! “However, the closer it gets to the shooting date, the more Timo feels embarrassed and doubtful about having involved himself in the first place. His face is ultimately replaced with the help of AI, and Rosa, together with a dominatrix, three trans women, a food-porn creator, a sex coach and other protagonists, continues with the film.”
If you are still not sold, let us just mention that among the people featured in the film, on which New Docs is handling sales, is also a person called Alice Moe alias Eric Big Clit. Porn surely sounds like it will get a new face and look, courtesy of Friedrich’s feature debut.
City of Fathers (Město otců)
Director: Zdeněk Tyc
Section: Special Screenings
‘City of Fathers’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
In his first feature since 2013’s Never Ever, the Czech director returns to make his distinctive voice heard once again and explore existential themes with Tomáš Vravník and Vladimír Javorský leading the cast.
His new film tells the story of a father and son who, according to a synopsis, “have nothing in common except their first name, Richard, and an apartment on a housing estate.” How much of an odd couple are they? Well, the son is a 30-something good-natured factory worker who listens to heavy metal. His dad is a frail, retired teacher who raised the boy after his mother’s departure and is “the embodiment of care and understanding.”
What could set in motion a bizarre journey from here, you wonder? The KVIFF website shares this much: “Their tranquil, shared reality, which embraces both the hardcore band Našrot and [Ingmar] Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, is disrupted by the sudden death of the mother.”
The Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb
Director: Yashasvi Juyal
Section: Proxima
‘The Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
The title alone will likely turn heads for this film, which sounds a little bit like an Indian Waiting for Godot from director Yashasvi Juyal, who co-wrote the script with Ankit Thapa.
“If the world had an edge, it might look something like the remote corner of northern India where Santosh and Rajji live, collecting highway tolls in dilapidated booths,” according to a plot summary on the KVIFF website. “Work and endless waiting are blurred together.”
But we should all expect some drama to strike. After all, the festival warns: “Bound by the power of love, but also by the need to constantly move around in search of work, they dream of the happiness that awaits them in a new place… until one day, a sudden tragedy turns their lives upside down.”
Gregorius, the Chosen One (Vyvolený)
Director: Tomasz Mielnik
Section: Special Screenings
‘Gregorius, the Chosen One’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
Polish writer-director Mielnik is bringing a taste of papal cinema to Karlovy Vary with the follow-up to his 2015 feature debut Journey to Rome. The Czech festival promises a “wild, absurd comedy.”
The film is based on and inspired by one of the final novels of The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice author Thomas Mann, The Holy Sinner. Young Gregorius is portrayed by Jan František Uher (Winter Flies) as he wanders through mythical lands on a journey through various adventures.
You may want to sit down and take a deep breath before you read the synopsis, though. Here goes: “‘Puppeteer, tell us a story we don’t know yet!’ the audience calls out to a traveling thespian. And so he starts to recount a story about a boy born of the forbidden love between brother and sister, who had many adventures, who spent 17 years tied to a rock, and who perhaps was also… a hedgehog? But that’s not as important as how, after overcoming all these obstacles, he ended up becoming the pope.”
Chica Checa
Director: Šimon Holý
Section: Crystal Globe Competition
‘Chica Checa’ film still, courtesy of KVIFF
Two of his low-budget films, namely Mirrors in the Dark and And Then There Was Love… have screened at Karlovy Vary. This year, Holý is back with the international co-production Chica Checa.
The female protagonist, played by Pavla Tomicová, is the widowed village mail carrier Zdena, who tries to fulfill the last wish of her ailing mother. Zdena deals with her loneliness by eating cucumbers and watching TV
But a series of unexpected events brings her closer to her son, portrayed by Jan Cina, who lives in France. And as the film unfolds, a longing for a different life awakens in her. The only question left now is who or what will turn out to be Chica Checa?! We’ll have to watch the film to find out.
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