The 60th annual film festival, to be held at Karlovy Vary International Airport from July 3 to 11, will honor actress, director, and screenwriter Maggie Gyllenhaal and actor, director, and screenwriter Jesse Eisenberg.
Artistic director Karel Och said: “Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jesse Eisenberg are distinguished by a kind of ‘transatlantic’ sensibility. Their work as actors and directors has the ability to connect the New World and Europe while bringing out the most essential elements of both traditions. The humor of New York intellectuals is combined with wisdom, talent and a unique worldview.”
KVIFF Executive Director Krzysztof Mucha added: “We are delighted to welcome to the festival two creative individuals whose work as actors, screenwriters and directors represents contemporary film trends and whose work creates an intense experience for audiences.”
At the opening ceremony, Golden Globe winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Gyllenhaal will be presented with the President’s Award. Gyllenhaal will screen his film “The Bride” at the festival. (2026), which she wrote, directed, and produced. The film is an imaginative continuation of the classic Frankenstein story, influenced by both the 1935 film The Bride of Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s original story. The film stars Jesse Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her feature directorial debut and also wrote the screenplay, adapting Elena Ferrante’s novel The Lost Daughter, starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jesse Buckley. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Actress (Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Buckley), and Best Original Screenplay (Gyllenhaal).
The President’s Award also goes to Eisenberg, a two-time Oscar nominee. In his honor, Karlovy Vary will screen Richard Ayoade’s The Double, in which Eisenberg plays the leading role.
Eisenberg made his debut as a director with the feature film When You Finish Saving the World, starring Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard as a mother and son trying to overcome their relationship. The film premiered at Cannes. Eisenberg then gained a lot of attention with his second film, A Real Pain (2024). In the film, he and Kieran Culkin play cousins searching for an inheritance. Eisenberg was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay, and his screenplay won a BAFTA and Sundance Film Festival’s Waldo Salt Award. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and Kieran Culkin’s performance won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His upcoming film as a writer and director, The Debut, stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. Eisenberg co-starred and wrote the music and lyrics for the film’s musical. Scheduled to be released by A24 in fall 2026.
