‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ Takes Top Prize at Karlovy Vary Film Festival
Miro Remo’s stunning portrait of identical twins, “Better Go Mad in the Wild,” took top honors at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, meaning the festival’s Crystal Globe and a cash prize of $25K will be staying at home in the Czech Republic.
A hybrid documentary with plenty of visual power and also a wise-talking bovine, the film immerses us in the daily lives of Ondřej and František Klišík as they live with only each other (as well as their animals) for company in their remote home. Surrounded by the beautiful Šumava forests, their lives are defined by reflections (often literal in that there is a mirror that becomes a haunting yet breathtaking way through which to view their world) about life, death, and isolation. At the same time as it is visually stunning, with Remo and his co-cinematographer Dušan Husár working wonders within the twins’ humble world, it is also a deeply funny film where the two constantly bicker.
The festival also gave a Jury Prize to the Iranian drama “Bidad,” which sees writer, director, producer, and co-editor Soheil Beiraghi telling the story of a young woman named Seti (Sarvin Zabetian) who is trying to find her voice as a singer while government forces seek to silence her. The film was one that the festival announced late in order to protect the film team as they traveled and Beiraghi shared how he faced repression of his own while in production.
The best director award went to Vytautas Katkus for the film “The Visitor” and Nathan Ambrosioni for the film “Out of Love,” while the best actress award went to Pia Tjelta for “Don’t Call Me Mama” and the best actor award went to Àlex Brendemühl for the role in the film “When a River Becomes the Sea.” Kateřina Falbrová also received a special jury mention for the role in the Czech drama “Broken Voices” and the Právo Audience Award went to “We’ve Got to Frame It! (a conversation with Jiří Bartoška in July 2021),” which opened the festival.
The complete list of winners:
Crystal Globe Competition
CRYSTAL GLOBE JURY
Nicolas Celis
Babak Jalali
Jessica Kiang
Jiří Mádl
Tuva Novotny
GRAND PRIX – CRYSTAL GLOBE
“Better Go Mad in the Wild”
Directed by: Miro Remo
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2025
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
“Bidad”
Directed by: Soheil Beiraghi
Iran, 2025
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
Vytautas Katkus for the film “The Visitor”
Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, 2025
Nathan Ambrosioni for the film “Out of Love / Les Enfants vont bien”
France, 2025
BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Pia Tjelta for the role in the film “Don’t Call Me Mama”
Norway, 2025
BEST ACTOR AWARD
Àlex Brendemühl for the role in the film “When a River Becomes the Sea”
Spain, 2025
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Kateřina Falbrová for the role in the film Broken Voices
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2025
PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD
“We’ve Got to Frame It! (a conversation with Jiří Bartoška in July 2021)” / “Musíme to zarámovat! (rozhovor s Jiřím Bartoškou v červenci 2021)”
Directed by: Milan Kuchynka, Jakub Jurásek
Czech Republic, 2025
Proxima Competition
PROXIMA JURY
Yulia Evina Bhara
Noaz Deshe
Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias
Marissa Frobes
PROXIMA GRAND PRIX
“Sand City”
Directed by: Balur Nogorite
Bangladesh, 2025
PROXIMA SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
“Forensics”
Directed by: Federico Atehortúa Arteaga
Colombia, 2025
SPECIAL MENTION
“Before / After”
Directed by: Manoël Dupont
Belgium, 2025
CRYSTAL GLOBE FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA
Stellan Skarsgård, Sweden
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO CZECH CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jiří Brožek, Czech Republic
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Vicky Krieps, Luxembourg / Germany
Dakota Johnson, United States of America
Peter Sarsgaard, United States of America
The post ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ Takes Top Prize at Karlovy Vary Film Festival appeared first on TheWrap.