How a Czech Director Turned Festival Trailers Into a Karlovy Vary Institution — One Star at a Time

Sure, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival audiences come to the Czech spa town for cinematic gems and the best of the past year. But let’s be honest: they also come for the trailers.

KVIFF‘s signature pre-show spots have become a festival institution in their own right — edgy, often outrageous short films starring previous festival guests who are put through some kind of ordeal, frequently involving the Crystal Globe statuette being deployed in, shall we say, creative ways. Past victims include Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Milos Forman, Danny DeVito, Casey Affleck, Andy Garcia and John Malkovich — many of whom you can watch here.

Shot almost always in black-and-white, the trailers are the work of Ivan Zachariáš, a Czech commercial and film director who has taken home several Cannes Lions honors. Audiences have been known to debate which trailer might unspool before a given screening before they’ve even taken their seats.

THR caught up with Zachariáš to find out how he makes the magic happen, how he landed the gig, and why it’s harder than it looks.

When did you create your first KVIFF trailer, how did you get that job, and which star or director was it with? First, I shot a series of short trailers with Eddie Marsan in 2004. But it wasn’t part of the recent series yet. It started in 2008 when Jiří Bartoška and Kryštof Mucha asked me to try to come up with a new idea – to make the trailers a bit more consistent. I came up with a concept of short B&W films with actors and directors who’ve been awarded by the festival in the past – always featuring the award in some funny way. We managed to shoot four little films that year. We’ve been very lucky with getting Miloš Forman, Harvey Keitel and Danny DeVito – we shot all three within a few days in New York and Connecticut. Then we added one more day in Prague with [Czech filmmaker] Věra Chytilová.

Was there ever a year when you couldn’t create the trailer? If so, how much did you miss it? Or have you always made time for the trailer even when you were super-busy?Yes, there were a few years I couldn’t do it, so I passed it on to Martin Krejčí. It is always a bit stressful, since there is a limited time for the shoot and also nervousness about instant feedback from the audience – so a few years without this stress were actually quite nice.

How early or late do you usually start thinking about ideas for the new trailer, and how do you choose the star for it?

We always agree on the star pretty early with Kryštof. But then starts the process of finding a shoot date and obviously coming up with an idea. That’s not so smooth – I usually have a few missed calls from Kryštof, when I am struggling with the new idea and don’t want to admit it. But we’ve always somehow made it work so far.

Do the stars or the festival usually shape and change the story of the trailer in cooperation with you?

Was there a trailer that was particularly difficult to make because of the short time a busy star had in between their other work?

Oh yeah! The worst was the shoot with Benicio del Toro. He could give us only two hours. He was in the middle of the The Phoenician Scheme shoot with Wes Anderson in Berlin. We had to mark every camera position and lens in advance, and then we literally ran from shot to shot to make it in those two hours. His voiceover was recorded in his hotel room while he was changing wardrobe for his next scene in the film and eating a piece of pizza for lunch…not ideal…

I assume there have been many funny and wild experiences. But any trailer production experience that is particularly memorable for you?

Well, yes. For example, the shoot with Johnny Depp. He arrived about three hours late, but in a good mood. I asked him to bring his guitar case – as a prop. He did. And inside he had a beautiful vintage Gibson Les Paul Goldtop – worth of hundreds of thousands. I told him to take it out of the case, since he would be slamming it into the door in one scene. Obviously, he forgot. But the guitar somehow survived…

The trailers often show the KVIFF statuettes getting treated in funny and unconventional ways. How did that idea start and is this a very Czech thing, this not taking things only super-seriously?

It was the initial idea. I believe it’s good not to take yourself too seriously. And this award is not an Oscar – but even if it was… I don’t think it’s necessarily a Czech thing, but I also believe that Czech humor is sometimes very good.

Is there anything else that you would like to share about the KVIFF trailers, your work on them and what you want people to feel when they watch them?

I do really enjoy making these trailers despite a bit of stress. And recently I found a treat for myself – I’ve also composed music for them, and it’s been great fun. I want people to enjoy them – obviously. And also to make them proud of having such a great film festival, where all these lovely people are willing to act in our trailers in their free time – for free.