The 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) will feature key Cannes Film Festival winners in its Horizons section and a selection of action and horror movies, both new and older, for its revamped Midnight Screenings program under the new name “Afterhours.”
In a lineup update unveiled on Friday, KVIFF said it will this year screen more than 130 feature films in the picturesque Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.
The Horizons lineup, which traditionally features highlights from the festival circuit of the past year, includes the likes of Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons, Tom Shoval’s A Letter to David, Michel Franco’s Dreams, My Father’s Shadow by Akinola Davies Jr., Mary Bronstein‘s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day, Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors, Jafar Panahi‘s Cannes Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident, and fellow Cannes award recipients Sound of Falling by Mascha Schilinski, Sirât by Oliver Laxe, Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, and The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes, which won the Un Certain Regard competition.
Meanwhile, KVIFF has added the world premiere of Serbian miniseries Absolute 100 to its Special Screenings section, marking a return of the miniseries format to that program after four years. Absolute 100 was created by filmmaker Srdan Golubović in collaboration with three other directors who are his former students. “This dynamic thriller with political undertones follows 19-year-old Sonja, a junior champion in sport shooting, who takes justice into her own hands after her family is threatened,” said KVIFF, which will screen the miniseries in its entirety, with the creators in attendance.
Check out the full Horizons and Afterhours lineups for KVIFF 2025 below.
Horizons
About a Hero
Directed by: Piotr Winiewicz
April
Directed by: Dea Kulumbegashvili
Ariel
Directed by: Lois Patiño
The Baltimorons
Directed by: Jay Duplass
The Blue Trail
Directed by: Gabriel Mascaro
Deaf
Directed by: Eva Libertad
Dreams
Directed by: Michel Franco
Dreams
Directed by: Dag Johan Haugerud
Feeling Better
Directed by: Valerio Mastandrea
The Forbidden City
Directed by: Gabriele Mainetti
Girls on Wire
Directed by: Vivian Qu
The Good Doctor
Directed by: Gianluca Matarrese
Christy
Directed by: Brendan Canty
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Directed by: Mary Bronstein
It Was Just an Accident
Directed by: Jafar Panahi
Kika
Directed by: Alexe Poukine
Kill the Jockey
Directed by: Luis Ortega
Kontinental ’25
Directed by: Radu Jude
Lesbian Space Princess
Directed by: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
A Letter to David
Directed by: Tom Shoval
Little Trouble Girls
Directed by: Urška Djukić
The Love That Remains
Directed by: Hlynur Pálmason
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
Directed by: Joel Alfonso Varga
Madly
Directed by: Paolo Genovese
Merckx
Directed by: Boris Tilquin, Christophe Hermans
My Father’s Shadow
Directed by: Akinola Davies Jr.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
Directed by: Diego Céspedes
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Directed by: Julia Loktev
Perla
Directed by: Alexandra Makarová
Peter Hujar’s Day
Directed by: Ira Sachs
Promised Sky
Directed by: Erige Sehiri
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Directed by: Sepideh Farsi
Renoir
Directed by: Chie Hayakawa
Siblings
Directed by: Greta Scarano
Sirât
Directed by: Oliver Laxe
Sorry, Baby
Directed by: Eva Victor
Sound of Falling
Directed by: Mascha Schilinski
Tales from the Magic Garden
Directed by: David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec
The Things You Kill
Directed by: Alireza Khatami
The Thing With Feathers
Directed by: Dylan Southern
Timestamp
Directed by: Kateryna Gornostai
Trains
Directed by: Maciej J. Drygas
Two Prosecutors
Directed by: Sergei Loznitsa
Two Times João Liberada
Directed by: Paula Tomás Marques
Urchin
Directed by: Harris Dickinson
Vermiglio
Directed by: Maura Delpero
We Believe You
Directed by: Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
What Does That Nature Say to You
Directed by: Hong Sang-soo
Yes
Directed by: Nadav Lapid
2000 Metres to Andriivka
Directed by: Mstyslav Chernov
Afterhours
Cadet
Directed by: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Dangerous Animals
Directed by: Sean Byrne
Dead Lover
Directed by: Grace Glowicki
Fucktoys
Directed by: Annapurna Sriram
Hellraiser
Directed by: Clive Barker
Mr. Vampire
Directed by: Ricky Lau
Straight Outta Space
Directed by: Michael Middelkoop