Anyone wondering if there is film festival life in the Czech Republic after Karlovy wouldn't have long to wait. Barely two weeks after the closing of the KV International Film festival on July 12 where Czech films did very well in terms of prizes and recognition, another gathering of the Czech film tribes is taking place in the remote southern town of Uherske Hradiste (in the Moravian region near Brno). While this festival is known here as "The Summer Film School", don't let the name fool you -...

A star studded jury confronted with a slate of second rate films in the international competition section (par for the course at Karlovy Vary because more important festivals gobble up the better films) had to sweat it out for five hours before arriving at their decisions on the main awards. The Grand jury composed of such luminaries as British actress Brenda Blethyn, Dutch star Johanna Ter Steege (The Vanishing), ace Hungarian-American camerman Vilmos Zsigmond, and presided over by Czech-Americ...