Host of Karlovy Vary festival opening ceremony turns politician with comments on China and Russia

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off Friday night with a big show, with the opening ceremony also including political commentary by Czech actor and TV presenter Marek Eben.

“Dear foreign visitors, welcome to the Czech Republic,” he said at the start of the event before pointing out that since the creation of his country, he “never tried to conquer another state’s territory,” according to a translation provided via headphones . She added, “The little territory we have is perfectly sufficient for us.”

The comment was seen as a remark about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was on the minds of many attendees during last year’s edition of the festival. The host then also seemed to refer to Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland and the former Czechoslovakia, saying that his country had never invaded Germany or Poland.

Eben later, in his opening monologue, also noted that this year’s Karlovy Vary competition consists of 11 instead of 12 films in competition. A few days before the announcement of the competition, the Chinese government banned the screening of Chinese films in the Czech Republic, he said, calling it an “order” from Beijing.

The Chinese film in question is Clap your hands by director Zhu Jie. It centers on a working-class woman who takes care of her daughter who has a rare bone disease.

But Eban stressed that Beijing’s intervention was also proof of how influential films can be. “It just shows the strength of the film,” Eben said. “It’s similar to diplomacy.”