Czech-Slovak documentary Better Go Mad in the Wild won the Grand Prix Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which closed its 59th edition on Saturday, July 12.
The fifth feature from Czechoslovakian filmmaker Remo, Better Go Mad… is loosely based on Ales Palan and Jan Sibik’s book of the same name, and follows two twins who see whether it is possible to live their entire lives in the same place.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Awarding the $25,000 prize shared between Remo and producer Tomas Hruby, the jury praised “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself.”
Soheil Beiraghi’s Iranian feature Bidad, which was added to the Crystal Globe competition at a late stage in order to protect the safety of the filmmaking team, won the $15,000 special jury prize. The film tells the story of a young singer who refuses to accept that women are not allowed to perform in public.
“Mirroring the bravery it takes to make such a film in Iran, writer-director Soheil Beiraghi’s Bidad is just as courageous in its constantly unexpected narrative turns,” noted the jury.
The best director award was shared between Vytautas Katkus for Lithuania-Norway-Sweden co-production The Visitor, and Nathan Ambrosioni for French title Out of Love.
Acting prizes went to Pia Tjelta – best actress for Nina Knag’s Don’t Call Me Mama; and Alex Brendemuhl – best actor for Pere Vila Barcelo’s When a River Becomes the Sea.
The jury gave a special mention to Katerina Falbrova for her performance in Ondrej Provaznik’s sexual abuse drama Broken Voices; while the audience award went to We’ve Got to Frame It!, the hour-long interview with late festival president Jiri Bartoska, which played as the festival’s opening film.
Mahde Hasan’s Bangladeshi feature Sand City took the grand prix in the Proxima competition. The film follows two sand thieves in capital city Dhaka, who discover a severed finger.
Previously announced honorary awards were presented during the festival to Stellan Skarsgard and Jiri Brozek; with festival president’s awards to Vicky Krieps, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard.
Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2025 winners
Crystal Globe competition
Grand Prix – Better Go Mad in the Wild (Czech-Slovakia) dir. Miro Remo
Special Jury prize – Bidad (Iran) dir. Soheil Beiraghi
Best director – Vytautas Katkus for The Visitor; Nathan Ambrosioni for Out of Love, ex aequo
Best actress – Pia Tjelta for Don’t Call Me Mama
Best actor – Alex Brendemuhl for When a River Becomes the Sea
Special jury mention – Katerina Falbrova for Broken Voices
Audience award – We’ve Got to Frame It! (Czech) dirs. Milan Kuchynka, Jakub Jurasek
Proxima competition
Grand Prix – Sand City (Bang) dir. Mahde Hasan
Special Jury prize – Forensics (Col) dir. Federico Atehortua Arteaga
Special mention – Before / After (Bel) dir. Manoel Dupont
Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema – Stellan Skarsgard
Festival president’s award for contribution to Czech cinematography – Jiri Brozek
Festival president’s award – Vicky Krieps, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard
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