3 weeks ago
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Kryštof Mucha has been appointed as the chairman of the board of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival Group. Mucha joined the festival team in 1997 and has been its executive director since 2004.
Rockaway Arts, majority owner of the festival, has decided not to fill the position of festival president left vacant following the death of Jiří Bartoška on Thursday.
In a statement, Rockaway Arts said: “As the festival prepares for its 59th edition, it will preserve the values and level of quality that its president built up over the years. The festival will continue to be guided by a strong and stable team headed by executive director Kryštof Mucha. The position of president will not be filled and will remain dedicated to Jiří Bartoška in memoriam.”
Jan Jírovec, head of the Rockaway Arts, said: “Despite the very sad fact that the world of culture has lost one of its most important personalities, we want to assure the public that the Karlovy Vary festival will continue to possess the level of quality that Jiří Bartoška and his team have always given it.”
Artistic director Karel Och and head of production Petr Lintimer remain on the festival’s management team.
Mucha said, “For many years, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Jiří Bartoška and to see how he thought and where he was taking the festival. I believe that, together with Karel Och and Petr Lintimer, we will succeed in continuing his legacy.”
Rockaway Arts is a joint undertaking by Jakub Havrlant, founder of Rockaway Capital, and Karel Komárek, founder of the KKCG group. In 2021, Rockaway Arts (then owned by Rockaway Capital) became majority owner of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival at a time when the pandemic had put many cultural events in a precarious situation.
Rockaway Arts was subsequently also joined by Bartoška’s close friend Karel Komárek, a patron of culture and longtime KVIFF supporter. This helped to develop Rockaway Arts as a cultural platform that supports major events such as the KVIFF but also other events such as Colours of Ostrava and Designblok.
Komárek said, “Over the past 30 years, Jiří Bartoška has built up one of the most important film festivals in Europe. He did so thanks to his personal vision and the team of people that he so excellently managed to assemble around him. For these reasons, among others, we have decided that the position of president shall remain associated with his name. I view it as a way of honoring one of the most distinctive figures of Czech culture and of preserving his legacy.”
Havrlant concluded, “The festival remains in the hands of an experienced and well-coordinated team with a clear vision for the future. Our role as owners is to ensure the festival’s stability and to lay the groundwork for further growth.”
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