Straight Outta Space** by Michael Middelkoop has been selected for Karlovy Vary’s Afterhours section. In this outrageous sci-fi horror comedy, best friends Amin and Mitchell work as street coaches in a working-class neighborhood—until their world turns upside down when local residents begin transforming into slimy, terrifying creatures. The film is produced by Lemming Film.

Director Jetske Lieber has been selected for Future Frames, the European Film Promotion (EFP) programme spotlighting the next generation of European cinema talent. Their short film Januaryis a quietly moving coming-of-age drama about a twenty-something navigating heartbreak and self-reinvention at the start of a new year. 

Lieber (b. 1999, Nijmegen) graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2024 and is currently based in Amsterdam. Originally making their acting debut in Marlon Brando (2020, dir. Vincent Tilanus), Lieber has since shifted to directing. January premiered at the Poitiers Film Festival, where it won the Prix Manifest, and went on to screen at Premiers Plans d’Angers and win Best Student Narrative at NFFTY (Seattle). Lieber is currently developing new projects, including a film exploring a mother coming of (old) age.

Now in its 11th edition, Future Frames – Generation NEXT of European Cinema is an initiative of EFP and KVIFF, supported by Creative Europe’s MEDIA Programme. The selected filmmakers, nominated by national film promotion institutes and curated by KVIFF’s Artistic Director Karel Och, will take part in a curated programme of networking and industry events. Festival partner Allwyn will offer a month-long Los Angeles scholarship to one of the selected directors.

The Dutch co-production Divia* by filmmaker Dmytro Hreshko has been selected for Karlovy Vary’s Crystal Globe competition. Dutch production company Valk Productions served as minority co-producer.

In addition, three Dutch co-productions have been selected for the Horizons section: The Blue Trailby Gabriel Mascaro, co-produced by Viking Film; Timestampby Kateryna Gornostai, with Rinkel Docs as Dutch co-producer; and Two Prosecutors* by Sergei Loznitsa, co-produced by Atoms & Void.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, running 4 to 12 July 2025, is the Czech Republic’s largest film festival and the most prestigious in Central and Eastern Europe. As one of the world’s oldest A-list festivals, alongside Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, KVIFF attracts top industry figures and continues to serve as a vital platform for bold, original cinema from Europe and beyond.