The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Industry Days strand, which runs from July 5-July 8, 2026, is expanding with several new programs, including a new book adaptation program.
The new joint project, called Book-To-Screen, will present producers with up to 10 book titles from Central and Eastern Europe suitable for a film or series adaptation. The new edition is presented with the Frankfurter Buchmesse, Svět Knihy and the Moravian Library in Brno with the support of the PPF Foundation. The long-term goal is to create a film rights market for the adaptation of literary works from the region and to strengthen cooperation between the film and literature industries.
With continued support from the PPF Foundation, the film industry program includes two complementary strands – Cinematic Focus and Screen Focus. Under this new framework, the KVIFF Eastern Promises festival platform is set to expand its international reach and is being rebranded as KVIFF Promises. The forum, which was responsible for presenting projects to producers, distributors, festivals and sales agents, is now abandoning its regional designation and focusing on projects from all over the world.
This year will also see the addition of a thread called “From True Crime Ethics to Alternative Distribution”, which will focus on a series of presentations, panel discussions and workshops on the ethics of true crime stories, alternative film distribution and new storytelling methods and independent project funding. There will also be a presentation of the AI tools currently available.
KVIFF will also host, for the first time, the meeting of the Board of the European Film Academy, which annually awards the European Film Awards.
On July 9, the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA) will present the annual Semiramis Award for Excellence in Casting. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in acting and honors the longstanding contribution of casting directors to the success of film and television. Alongside this, ICDA will host a dedicated series of panels and masterclasses exploring the art and influence of acting in contemporary filmmaking.
Additionally, KVIFF Industry Days will host the US State Department’s Global Media Makers Residency, a program focused on 14-20 indie producers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was held in partnership with the US embassies in Bratislava and Prague, and Film Independent, an LA-based non-profit organization that supports indie filmmakers. Designed as an intensive, hands-on residency, the program will explore new ways to raise private equity and find inspiration in the US film industry.
The festival also continues its partnership with Oneplay, which will support a range of panels, masterclasses and presentations at its Screen Focus sessions.
Finally, its KVIFF Talents program is planned to support six audiovisual projects in the conceptual stage, which will receive development funding, training of industry professionals and the opportunity to establish their projects. Three features will be introduced in its Feature Pool section: Revealedfrom director Klára Tasovská; Nera from director Ivana Vogrinc Vidali; and Lucia Čižinská Until We Go. Two fiction series and one animated film will be presented in this art pool category: series Burning the Witcheswritten by Martina Babišová and Věra Starečková; pictures Inhalatorium from Bára Anna Stejskalová; and series K-Dream from director Adam Sedlák.
KVIFF runs from July 3-11, 2026.
