Benicio del Toro has had enough of schmoozing, small talk and pretending to laugh at people’s jokes in this year’s black-and-white trailer for the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), which was unveiled, as has become tradition, on Friday evening as part of the opening night festivities of the 58th edition of the fest in the Czech spa town.
Enough is enough, he thinks, while walking through a Berlin train station. And to cheer himself up, he turns to a traditional Karlovy Vary treat that he takes out of a bag, which also contains his KVIFF honor statuette.
The Puerto Rican actor and producer received the KVIFF President’s Award in 2022 and has now joined a who’s who of stars from Hollywood and beyond in starring in the usually offbeat trailers that don’t take themselves, the celebrities and the award statuette too seriously. Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Helen Mirren, Harvey Keitel, Milos Forman, Danny DeVito, Casey Affleck, Andy Garcia and John Malkovich are among the big names who have starred in trailers for KVIFF over the past 16 years.
“The idea of shooting festival trailers featuring distinctive representatives of world cinema was born 16 years ago,” KVIFF highlighted recently in unveiling the stars who will get special awards this year, namely Viggo Mortensen, Daniel Brühl and Clive Owen.
“We filmed with Benicio del Toro in May in Berlin, where he took time out for us while shooting Wes Anderson’s new film,” said Ivan Zachariás, the long-time creator of KVIFF trailers who also wrote and directed this year’s short. “His first response was: ‘It’s a great idea, but we have to be quick.’ Benicio was a pro. He immediately understood what I wanted from him, and so we got most of the shots in one go.” Zachariás also composed the music.
“We are glad that Benicio del Toro could join the friends of KVIFF who have supported the festival by appearing in our trailer,” added Krystof Mucha, executive director of KVIFF, which this year runs through July 6.
Check out the KVIFF 58 trailer featuring del Toro below.
