The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival opened last night with a spirited musical performance from Russell Crowe, and the energy remained high this evening with actor Ewan McGregor in town to receive the fest’s honorary President’s Award.
McGregor accepted the honor during an overflowing ceremony in the festival’s Grand Hall, where he was joined by his daughter Clara McGregor, his mother, and partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
“Thank you so much for being here tonight. It means the world to me,” he said as he picked up the award. “I believe so much in what we do as actors. I’m so fortunate to do what I love and I love what I do.”
The crowd inside the room was lively. Czech audiences are notoriously welcoming to the stars they receive here in Karlovy Vary and McGregor played to the crowd.
“I was gonna say something in Czech and I had been trying to practice. But somebody called an ambulance because they thought I was having a medical emergency,” he joked.
During the presentation, the festival screened a short tribute video to McGregor featuring a collection of his performances from Trainspotting to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which received the greatest cheers from the audience. However, the actor told the crowd that the one project in his filmography that stands out is his most recent.
“The highlight of what I’ve done today is to act with my daughter Clara McGregor,” he said before welcoming her on stage to introduce their 2023 road movie You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder. In the pic, the pair play a fictional father-daughter duo who set out on a journey filled with unexpected encounters during which they find a way back to each other after a period of alienation. Emma Westenberg directed the pic from a screenplay by Ruby Caster. McGregor served as an exec producer on the pic.
Actor Alicia Vikander received this year’s first honorary President’s Award at last night’s opening ceremony. Her latest pic Firebrand opened the fest following the presentation. The film is a fictionalized story of Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of the tyrannical English King Henry VIII. Vikander plays Parr in the piece alongside an unrecognizable Jude Law, who suits up as King Henry. The pair debuted the film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Karlovy Vary is also set to fete Robin Wright and stalwart indie producer Christine Vachon with honorary gongs during the festival. Vachon will also present her latest pic, the breakout Sundance hit Past Lives, by director Celine Song.
The jury for this year’s Crystal Globe competition is headed by Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects), who is joined by producer Dora Bouchoucha, Sundance senior programmer John Nein, filmmaker Olmo Omerzu, and Irish actor Barry Ward.
Among the Competition lineup is Les chambres rouges (Red Rooms), the latest pic from Canadian filmmaker Pascal Plante and The Hypnosis, starring Herbert Nordrum (The Worst Person In The World).
Karlovy Vary runs June 30 – July 8.