The 60th annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will honor actors and directors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jesse Eisenberg with the President’s Award, KVIFF organizers announced on Monday morning.
The Czech festival, which will take place in the spa town west of Prague from July 3-11, will present Gyllenhaal and Eisenberg with an award that in recent years has also gone to Vicky Krieps, Viggo Mortensen, Alicia Vikander, Ewan McGregor, Benicio del Toro and Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard.
“We at the festival are glad to be able to welcome two creative individuals whose work as actors, screenwriters, and directors is representative of contemporary trends in cinema and whose films are an intense experience for audiences,” KVIFF’s Executive Director Kryštof Mucha said in a statement.
Artistic director Karel Och added, “Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jesse Eisenberg are distinguished by a certain ‘trans-Atlantic’ sensitivity. Their work as actors and directors has the ability to connect the New World and Europe while drawing on the most essential elements of both traditions.”
Gyllenhaal will receive her award at the KVIFF opening ceremony on July 3. During the festival, she will also present her most recent film as a director, “The Bride!”
Eisenberg, whose most recent film as a writer/director, “The Debut,” will be released by A24 in the fall, will be saluted by a screening of “The Double,” the 2013 black comedy by Richard Ayoade in which Eisenberg played dual roles as a shy office worker, Simon James, and a confident new worker, James Simon, who nobody else notices looks exactly like him.
In coming weeks, KVIFF will announce additional honorees, including this year’s recipient of the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema.
The festival also recently announced its official lineup in the Crystal Globe Competition, its main competitive section; the Proxima Competition, for films from younger filmmakers; and Special Screenings out of competition.
Those titles are below.
Crystal Globe Competition
“3 nedelje posle” / “3 Weeks After” Director: Miroslav Terzić Serbia, Bulgaria, 2026, 94 min, World premiere
“Cherni pari za beli noshti” / “Black Money for White Nights” Directors: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov Bulgaria, Greece, 2025, 94 min, World premiere
“Chica Checa” Director: Šimon Holý Czech Republic, France, Slovak Republic, 2026, 96 min, World premiere
“Cinco años, cuatro meses” / “Five Years, Four Months” Director: Esteban Hoyos García, Juan Miguel Gelacio Ramírez Colombia, USA, 2025, 83 min, World premiere
“Detrás de la lluvia” / “Behind the Rain” Director: Valeria Sarmiento Chile, 2026, 97 min, World premiere
“Gæsten” / “The Guest” Director: Mads Mengel Denmark, 2026, 99 min, World premiere
“A Happy Family” Director: Jan-Eric Mack Switzerland, 2026, 120 min, World premiere
“Hijamat” Director: Nader Saeivar Germany, 2026, 103 min, World premiere
“The Lion at My Back” Director: Tonia Mishiali Cyprus, Luxembourg, Greece, 2026, 106 min, World premiere
“Pipes” Director: Karim Kassem Lebanon, 2025, 112 min, World premiere
“Prameň” / “Only Beautiful Things to Look At” Director: Ivan Ostrochovský Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Hungary, 2026, 90 min, World premiere
“Thit-thee Khu” / “Fruit Gathering” Director: Aung Phyoe Myanmar, France, Czech Republic, 2026, 97 min, World premiere
Proxima Competition
“33 krokov” / “33 Steps” Director: Anna Domček, Šimon Domček Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2026, 71 min, World premiere
“Camionero” / “Truck Driver” Director: Francisco Marise Spain, Argentina, 2026, 84 min, World premiere
“Contra la Naturaleza” / “Against Nature” Director: Axel Bertha Mexico, 2026, 86 min, World premiere
“Enas olokliros anthropos schedon” / “A Whole Person Almost” Director: Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Cyprus, Romania, 2025, 111 min, World premiere
“Homo Sive Natura” Director: Giovanni C. Lorusso Italy, 2026, 115 min, World premiere
“The Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb” Director: Yashasvi Juyal India, 2026, 120 min, World premiere
“Mein Freund der Pornostar” / “My Friend the Porn Star” Director: Rosa Friedrich Austria, 2026, 94 min, World premiere
“Milovník, nie bojovník” / “Lover, Not a Fighter” Director: Martina Buchelová Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2026, 108 min, World premiere
“Paris Paris” Director: Isabelle Tollenaere Belgium, 2026, 78 min, World premiere
“Rain Catcher” Director: Michele Fiascaris Italy, United Kingdom, 2026, 109 min, World premiere
“Shokyakuro” / “Incinerator” Director: Shuntaro Uchida Japan, 2026, 97 min, World premiere
“Sitni lopovi” / “Petty Thieves” Director: Mate Ugrin Croatia, Germany, France, 2026, 106 min, World premiere
Special Screenings
“Bára Basiková” / “Bára – Diary of a Rockstar” Director: Helena Třeštíková Czech Republic, 2026, 97 min, World premiere
“Dvě deci tuše” / “A Pint of Ink” Director: Ester Geislerová Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2026, 83 min, World premiere
“Kdyby se holubi proměnili ve zlato” / “If Pigeons Turned to Gold” Director: Pepa Lubojacki Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2026, 110 min
“Khaneh doost injast” / “The Friend’s House is Here” Director: Maryam Ataei, Hossein Keshavarz Iran, USA, 2025, 96 min, International premiere
“Learning To Breathe Underwater” Director: Rebekah Fortune United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ireland, 2026, 95 min, World premiere
“Město otců” / “City of Fathers” Director: Zdeněk Tyc Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, 2026, 100 min, World premiere
“Mistryně” / “Everything As It Should Be” Director: Bohdan Karásek Czech Republic, 2026, 101 min, World premiere
“Morten” Director: Ivan Pavljutskov Estonia, Lithuania, 2026, 101 min, World premiere
“Robert Richardson: The White Devil” Director: Jana Hojdová Czech Republic, USA, 2026, 105 min, World premiere
“The Story of Documentary Film – 1980s” Director: Mark Cousins United Kingdom, 2026, 120 min, World premiere
“To Die to Live” Director: Yuliia Hontaruk Ukraine, Latvia, Slovak Republic, 2026, 116 min, World premiere
“Vyvolený” / “Gregorius, the Chosen One” Director: Tomasz Mielnik Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, 2026, 90 min, World premiere
“Zpráva pro Minervu 2” / “A Report for Minerva 2” Director: Miroslav Krobot, Lubomír Smékal Czech Republic, 2026, 69 min, World premiere
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