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Myanmar romantic drama Fruit Gatheringwon the Grand Prix Crystal Globe, worth $25,000, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), which wrapped its 2026 edition on Saturday, July 11.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The feature debut ofAung Phyoe is about the bond that develops between two female factory workers and was described by the jury as a “lush and meditative portrait of work and friendship before morphing, unexpectedly and organically, into a harrowing drama of obsession and queer desire”.
The project is a co-production betweenMyanmar, the Czech Republic and France, and was the first Myanmar title selected to screen in competition at the festival.
The Crystal Globe jury comprised Justin Chang, Amanda Nell Eu, Pavel Rejholec, Nadia Turincev and Eskil Vogt.
The Guest from Denmark’s Mads Mengel won the $15,000 special jury prize. It stars Trine Dyrholm as an estranged mother who tries to reclaim her place within her son’s family. LevelK is handling sales. Mengel, making his feature debut, also won the festival’s best director prize.
The jury said the film is “a squirmingly funny yet precisely modulated drama that subtly raises questions about motherhood, filial duty and mental illness.”
The acting awards went to Anna Schinz for Jan-Eric Mack’s A Happy Family, about a woman who assumes a new identity to see her children after they are taken into foster care, and Ghassan Saad for Pipes from Lebanese director Karim Kassem, a new story following a character from his previous film Moondove.
Martina Buchelová’s Lover, Not A Fighterwon the top prize of the Proxima competition, for bold works by young filmmakers and experienced auteurs. Other winners in the section were Shuntaro Uchida’s Incinerator and director Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis for A Whole Person Almost.
Honorary awards this year went to Juliette Binoche, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Richardson, Jesse Eisenberg, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Magda Vášáryová and Jeffrey Wright.
The 2027 edition of KVIFF will be held from July 2 to July 10.
Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2026 winners
- Grand Prix – Fruit Gathering (Myanmar, Czech Republic, Franc) dir. Aung Phyoe
- Special Jury prize – The Guest (Denmark) dir. Mads Mengel
- Best director – Mads Mengel for The Guest
- Best actress – Anna Schinz for A Happy Family
- Best actor – Ghassan Saad for Pipes
- Audience award – Bára – Diary Of A Rockstar (Czech Republic), dir. Helena Třeštíková
- Grand Prix – Lover, Not A Fighter (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic), dir. Martina Buchelová
- Special Jury prize – Incinerator (Japan), dir. Shuntaro Uchida
- Best director – Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis for A Whole Person Almost
- Special mention – 33 Steps (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic) dirs. Anna Domček, Šimon Domček
Debut director Mads Mengel on casting his Karlovy Vary competition title ‘The Guest’: “I was so nervous the first time I met Trine Dyrholm”
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- Karlovy Vary
