An international film festival in the western Czech resort city of Karlovy Vary is kicking off with an honor for U.S. actor and director Viggo Mortensen.
Mortensen, a three-time nominee for the Academy Award for best actor, is slated to receive the Festival President’s Award at Friday’s opening ceremony and present the second movie he directed, "The Dead Don’t Hurt.”
A special guest of the fest, Oscar-winning director and producer Steve Soderbergh, will present two movies, “Kafka” and “Mr Kneff,” in a retrospective called “The Wish to Be a Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema.”
The retrospective will feature movie adaptations of books by Franz Kafka to mark the 100th anniversary since the author’s death.
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs through July 6. The grand jury, which includes Australian Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush, will consider 12 movies for the top prize, the Crystal Globe.
