The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) Industry Days program has announced 11 movies for its Central Stage showcase and eight books for its inaugural Book-to-Screen program [1].
This expansion signals a strategic effort to build a robust intellectual property market within Central and Eastern Europe. By bridging the gap between literature and cinema, the festival aims to foster new adaptations and cross-border collaborations among industry professionals.
Industry Days is scheduled to run from July 5 to July 8, 2026 [1]. The events will be held at the Kaiserbad venue in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic [2].
The Central Stage showcase serves as a platform for highlighting promising cinematic projects. Among the 11 selected films is a project focused on the Rolling Stones [3]. This high-profile inclusion underscores the festival's goal of attracting international attention to regional production capabilities.
Parallel to the film showcase, the first-ever Book-to-Screen initiative will feature eight selected books [1]. This program is designed to promote literary works that possess strong potential for cinematic adaptation, creating a direct pipeline from the page to the screen.
The initiative seeks to establish the Czech Republic as a hub for IP development. By integrating these two mediums, KVIFF is positioning itself as more than a viewing event; it is becoming a marketplace for the next generation of European storytelling.
“KVIFF Industry Days program has announced 11 movies for its Central Stage showcase”
The introduction of a dedicated Book-to-Screen program alongside the Central Stage showcase indicates a shift toward vertical integration in the European film market. By focusing on intellectual property acquisition and development, KVIFF is attempting to reduce the reliance on Western European and North American studios for source material, instead empowering Central-Eastern European creators to control the narrative pipeline from publication to production.
