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It’s lights, camera, action in Karlovy Vary, with the town’s 43rd annual film festival kicking off on Friday. Over the next eight days, festival-goers will be treated to screenings of over 220 films, and around 60 premieres. Each year, the population of the picturesque and otherwise tranquil West Bohemian spa town swells to over three times its normal size - as industry bigwigs, stars, and film-lovers flock to Karlovy Vary from all over the world.

US actor Robert De Niro will take center stage at the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival which opens in the West Bohemian spa town on Friday. De Niro is expected to receive an award for lifetime achievement. The latest film produced and directed by De Niro, "What Just Happened," will be screened at the festival's opening with a total of 220 films and documentaries crammed in before the event closes on July 12.

US actor Danny Glover has been added to the list of guests for this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which begins on Friday. Two of the Lethal Weapon star’s movies, Honeydripper and Be Kind Rewind, are being shown at the 43rd festival in the west Bohemian spa town. Other guests confirmed this year are actors Robert De Niro, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Christopher Lee, and directors Nicolas Roeg and John Sayles.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the highlights on the Czech cultural calendar. In this, its 43rd year, the festival promises to be bigger than ever. It all kicks off in two weeks’ time in the pretty Bohemian spa town, but ahead of the grand opening, organizers held a meeting in Prague on Monday, to drop a few hints about what could be expected. I spoke to program director Julietta Sichel about what would be new at the festival this year:

Organisers have reported that American actor Robert De Niro – a two-time Academy Award winner - will be attending this year’s Karlovy Vary Film festival, held in early July. The prominent actor will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema. Robert De Niro will be opening the festival with his most recent film, What Just Happened, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Czech scriptwriter and film director Ivan Passer will chair the main jury at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year, it was announced on Thursday. A spokesperson for the festival said that both Petr Zelenka’s film The Karamazovs, and Michaela Pavlatová’s Children of the Night would be representing the Czech Republic in the feature-film competition. The competition jury will also include British actress Brenda Blethyn, Isreali film-maker Ari Folman and US producer Ted Hope.

Organisers have reported that American actor Nick Nolte – the star of memorable films like 48 Hours, Down and Out in Beverly Hills and The Thin Red Line will be attending this year’s Karlovy Vary Film festival, held in early July. The 67-year-old actor will be present to kick-off the world premiere of a documentary with the title "Nick Nolte: No Exit" by director Tom Thurman.

Cuts to the Culture Ministry's budget could mean the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival receives less state funding, Mlada fronta Dnes reported. The festival currently gets an annual grant of CZK 30 million (almost USD 1.5 million). Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka said the aim was to ensure smaller events received sufficient funding. Meanwhile, the ministry is considering merging the National Theatre and the State Opera, the paper said.

The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival came to a close on Saturday night with a glitzy ceremony at the town's Thermal hotel. The festival's prize the Crystal Globe was presented to a number of directors and actors - and to US star Danny DeVito, who got an award for outstanding contribution to world cinema.

The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ended on Saturday with an award ceremony at which the Crystal Globe Grand Prix for the best film was presented by star actor, director and producer Danny DeVito. The Crystal Globe went to the Icelandic film Jar City by Baltasar Kormakur, one of the 14 films competing in the official section of the festival. Czech actor and screenwriter Zdenek Sverak was awarded a special jury mention for his screenplay of Empties, a Czech film directed by his son Jan Sverak.