The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Industry Office has unveiled films selected for this year’s new KVIFF Central Stage showcase. The 14 projects from 8 different Central European countries, which are at various stages of development and seeking co-production and financing opportunities, include projects from established filmmakers such as Andreas Horvath, Nader Saeivar and László Csuja.
The projects will be showcased at KVIFF through interactive conversations about the filmmakers’ career paths and co-production possibilities across participating countries. Additionally, the projects will gain access to exclusive post-production advantages through a partnership with studios UPP and Soundsquare, while also being eligible for the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.
Films that meet the criteria for the Czech Audiovisual Fund’s 35% digital production incentive will secure an additional 15% direct reduction on comprehensive audio-visual post-production services from both studios
“We introduced this new format to address a notable gap in the Central European film landscape,” said Hugo Rosák, the Head of KVIFF Industry Office. “While emerging filmmakers often receive substantial support, mid-career filmmakers typically have fewer opportunities for visibility and financing, despite their equally compelling projects. We were fortunate to collaborate closely with Central European film institutes, who helped us identify filmmakers currently working on highly anticipated projects that genuinely reflect the established voices already resonating with audiences.”
Another recently established showcase, KVIFF Talents, focused on seeking out and supporting Czech and Slovak filmmakers and innovative audiovisual genres, will be joined by a guest project by Hungarian filmmaker István Kovács, who will pitch the feature-length version of his Student Academy Award-winning short film A Siege (Ostrom) in Karlovy Vary.
The Czech & Slovak projects in the making feature Masaryk: The Coup, a standalone sequel to A Prominent Patient by Julius Ševčík, which premiered at Berlinale and won 12 Czech Lion Awards. Meanwhile, Michal Hogenauer and Šimon Holý, who have both featured in KVIFF’s East Meets West or Proxima competitions, will present their new projects Around the Fire and First Dates, which are both in development. Slovak director Marko Škop, whose previous films have been awarded at KVIFF and Toronto, will present Láska, his new feature currently in post-production.
The KVIFF Central Stage showcase will take place at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, July 8, on the Industry Main Stage in the KVIFF Industry Hub in Kaiserbad.
Here’s the full list:
KVIFF Central Stage
The Lime Works (Austria)
Director, Scriptwriter, Producer: Andreas Horvath
Masaryk: The Coup (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic)
Director: Julius Ševčík
Scriptwriter: Julius Ševčík, Petr Kolečko
Producer: Vanessa Biermannová, Rudolf Biermann
Around the Fire (Czech Republic, Netherlands, Slovak Republic)
Director, Scriptwriter: Michal Hogenauer
Producer: Marek Novák
First Dates (Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland)
Director, Scriptwriter: Šimon Holý
Producer: Marek Novák
Hijamat (Germany, Turkey)
Director, Scriptwriter: Nader Saeivar
Producer: Said Nur Akkus, Tatiana Tsyganova, Emre Oskay
Some Good News (Hungary, Romania)
Director: László Csuja
Scriptwriter: Éva Zabezsinszkij, László Csuja
Producer: Anna Szijártó
Democracy Work In Progress (Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany)
Director, Scriptwriter: Mihály Schwechtje
Producer: Genovéva Petrovits
Starska (Poland)
Director, Scriptwriter: Piotr Adamski
Producer: Anna Gawlita, Marta Szymanowska
Voracious (Poland)
Director, Scriptwriter: Jagoda Szelc (based on novel by Malgorzata Lebda)
Producer: Joanna Szymańska
Láska (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Croatia)
Director: Marko Škop
Scriptwriter: Zuzana Liová, Marko Škop
Producer: Marko Škop, Ján Meliš, Alice Zárubová Tabery, Marina Andree Škop
Purgatory (Slovenia, Austria)
Director: Žiga Virc
Scriptwriter: Iza Strehar
Producer: Žiga Virc, Iza Strehar
The Happiest Day (Slovenia, Norway, Italy)
Director, Scriptwriter: Sonja Prosenc
Producer: Rok Sečen
Vacuum (Ukraine)
Director, Scriptwriter: Yelizaveta Smith
Producer: Eugene Rachkovsky
Making-of (Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic)
Director, Scriptwriter: Ivan Tymchenko
Producer: Svitlana Soloviova, Alžběta Janáčková
The KVIFF Central Stage showcase is presented in partnership with Czech Film Center, German Films, Polish Film Institute, Slovenian Film Centre, Slovak Film Institute, Soundsquare, Ukrainian Institute and UPP.
Supporting Independent Hungarian Talents
In addition to the two Hungarian projects participating in the KVIFF Central Stage, KVIFF Talents will spotlight István Kovács’ A Siege, a feature-length rework of his eponymous short film that won him the Student Academy Award in 2018. KVIFF Talents, a program dedicated to supporting talented creators from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, offers a presentation opportunity to one guest project selected as one of the two best from a Hungarian program that serves as the counterpart to KVIFF Talents: Cine-Collegium Budapest, an independent film funding initiative launched under the umbrella of the Budapest International Film Festival. Its main goal is to support free and independent Hungarian cinema through community-based funding, without relying on state subsidies.
“The Cine-Collegium Budapest Foundation cannot solve the crisis of the starving Hungarian film industry, but it offers a kind of escape route — a last chance for a dedicated creator to realize their film project through personal initiative and self-sacrificing work,” said the founders of the Budapest International Film Festival and Cine-Collegium Budapest. “The unprecedented professional solidarity behind the program within the Hungarian film community also proves that many not only see the situation similarly but feel a sense of responsibility as well; they have offered their own money, professional resources, and labor because they firmly believe in free filmmaking and in the future of Hungarian culture. We hope that, year after year, we will be able to support more and more talented creators and film projects.”
The KVIFF Talents showcase will take place at 4:30 pm on Monday, July 7, on the Industry Main Stage. Check the full list of the KVIFF Talents 2025 Creative Pool & Feature
In total, this year’s KVIFF Eastern Promises will spotlight 40 promising film and series in the making: 14 feature films in KVIFF Central Stage, 9 treatments in Works in Development – Feature Launch and 5 in Works in Development – Focus Queer, 3+1 feature film and 3 series projects in KVIFF Talents and 5 original series projects in Pop Up Series Incubator.
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