Week 27 & 28 of 2024 (In Review) – Karlovy Vary Film Festival with a Two-Year-Old & Dog

A few weeks ago the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that takes place every year at the beginning of July, always encompassing the July 5th and 6th holidays here in the Czech Republic. We first went to this festival over ten years ago and this time was our seventh festival! Most years we make it into a little end-of-school-year holiday in the most beautiful place in the entire Czech Republic. A film festival holiday may not appeal to some but as I have a long history of working with SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival), there is almost nothing better to me than getting totally immersed in a festival so that (and maybe especially so) it takes over your life for at least a few days.

We went last year with our one-year-old and dog for the first time and man, was that truly great! This year was also great, just different. One of the greatest thing this trip was how well travel was with a two-year-old on the train! So, so good and far less chaotic than last year with a twelve-month-old. Mouse played with his toy cars and sticker book (purchased at Flying Tiger) on the train and occupied himself with eating snack after snack. He made a friend at the Plzen train station during our layover and even willingly took an hour nap (both trips) in his pram on the longer train from Plzen to Karlovy Vary. Love this kid. So very reasonable.

This year we stayed again on the hill about Divadelní náměstí (Theatre Square) in a one bedroom holiday flat – its best feature was for sure that sweeping hilly views over Grand Hotel Pupp, even though Alex may have been cursing a bit as he pushed the pram up the hill on the last day. We went again for four nights which I’ve found, especially with a child in-tow, to be the perfect number of days to stay. Three full days of film-going are completely necessary, but no more than that.

It was the same ol’ good times swinging between Hotel Thermal and Hotel Pupp and all the fun pop-up tents and areas in between which always have something fun to offer. I took my annual walk on Goethe’s Way southward past Hotel Pupp for a break, enjoyed drinking in the mineral waters of the many springs located all around the city.

This year our little one got to play in the Rohlíček play area, located in the Rohlík pop-up tent in pretty Smetanovy park, just a stone’s throw away from Hotel Thermal and Masaryka street. They have some nice lunch offerings, a DJ spinning agreeable tunes, drinks a-plenty of all sorts, a private breastfeeding and diaper-change station, and perhaps best of all, the giant play area meant for the smallest children (I saw crawling babies) up to age 12, accompanied by an adult. We had to wait over an hour to get in (I hear that was unusual!) due to the rain but our little one enjoyed his time there very much and was hard pulling him out! I appreciate that the festival has so much for all ages. (Next: something for the dogs? I hope)

As far as films go, my two favorites were Steven Soderbergh’s remake (Mr. Kneff) of his 1991 film, Kafka. It is quite interesting, actually – rumor has it that he had grown dissatisfied with Kafka over the last thirty years and decided to remake it by making some big changes, namely, cutting out 20 unnecessary minutes, changing the lighting and soundtrack and removing dialogue, using only subtitles which gives it a film noir, silent movie sort of vibe. What a riot to see at 9am in the morning. (I can’t believe I actually forgot my ticket at home! Had to wait in the standby queue and was lucky enough to get in). Also enjoyed All We Imagine As Light which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes the month before. Alex’s favorite was Celebration (Oslava), a Croatian competition film. I stood in the massive stand-by queue for Vlny (Waves), a very buzzy new Czech film directed by everyone’s favorite Jiří Mádl, and so did not get in. You have to try, though. As I do try to see at least one Czech film every year as it’s the only opportunity to see it with English subtitles, I did end up seeing Mord (Our Lovely Pig Slaughter) which was a good, family-oriented drama.

German-Spanish actor Daniel Brühl was there to present his directorial debut (which actually debuted during the pandemic). I had already seen Nebenan (Next Door) so I didn’t go to the screening, but as would reasonably call myself a fan, I did instruct Alex to go see him on the red carpet as I was in a screening at that time. (Reader, Alex did not see him on the red carpet.) I ended up watching his Crystal Globe acceptance speech on a television inside Hotel Thermal with everyone else who poured out of my screening and we all smiled and awwed together. That Daniel Brühl is incredibly charming.

One thing I did not account for was how laid out I felt every single night after getting up to all sorts of things during the day and chasing after my toddler. Surprisingly more than last year. Gone were the big ideas of popping out for a free concert of one of many popular Czech artists in the evening. Hah! Nine PM bed-times sounded pretty great. One night we just decided to take our restaurant leftovers from the night before and eat them in the garden (of the apartment building where we were staying) as it was a nice mild afternoon. Just to take a break collectively and be in nature, for the child and dog to run around together… it was so worth it.

Which brings me to, how we’re always refining this annual trip and asking ourselves afterwards, how can we make this film festival trip better for next time? I hope next time around we can go for five nights instead of four and use that extra day just to relax. Do some light sight-seeing, maybe swim at the hot-spring-fed pool at Hotel Thermal. Maybe not stay on a hill again 😉 Last year it felt relaxing enough with a one-year-old but this year felt a bit different with a very mobile, newly-opinionated young child. If film festival travel has taught me anything, it’s that the whole experience outside the cinemas are worth just as much if not more than seeing films. What matters is spending time with one another, feeling relaxed and rested, enjoying your time to the fullest in every avenue.

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Like last year, this early July trip was a great rehearsal for all the train travel we’re undertaking at the end of the month when we head northwestwards to Germany and Denmark.

Otherwise, we’ve just finished teaching at summer camps for the year! I taught there again on a mostly part-time basis for the first time since pre-baby and it was nice to be back. Will be back with a report on that and how lovely July is going next weekend. Have a beautiful July weekend, all.