Miro Remo’s ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ Triumphs at Karlovy Vary as Stellan Skarsgard Picks Up Crystal Globe
Miro Remo’s hybrid doc “Better Go Mad in the Wild” picked up Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Grand Prix on Saturday – and $25,000, shared by the director and the producers.
Following hermit twins František and Ondřej Klišík, the Slovak director first discovered them thanks to Aleš Palán’s book. “I contacted Aleš right away, and he brought me into their world,” he said. “I fell in love with them and with their environment. I was fascinated by everything magical and enchantingly unusual.”
Jurors Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl and Tuva Novotny called it “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and a “delightfully inventive documentary.” Despite living on a dilapidated farm, “in a world as mad as ours, [they] actually might be the sanest people on earth.”
They added: “ ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ feels like a gulp of fresh, woody air, or a quick dip in an outdoor pond, or a moment of contemplation as a cow chews on your beard. In short, it feels like being free.”
Variety’s Guy Lodge shared the love for the film, calling it a “poignant, permanent imprint of lives largely lived far outside the gaze of society and the authorities.”
“If I knew it would be such a huge event, I would wear a bowtie. This is the biggest award I have ever received,” enthused Remo.
The Special Jury Prize went to Iranian drama “Bidad” by Soheil Beiraghi, who asked the audience to applaud for the Iranian women “for not being afraid and teaching him how not to be afraid.”
“Morphing from social-injustice thriller into family melodrama into a triumph-over-adversity arc, it is most striking as a gonzo lovers-on-the-run romance, shot through with punk energy and spiky personality that ends on an ambivalent yet optimistic note — because where there’s this much life, there’s hope,” said the jury.
Beiraghi, whose team was unable to join him at the fest, told Variety: “I need to stand by my work. I need to show I have control over my actions. But after the festival? I have no idea what’s going to happen. We have no control over that.”
In the film, he shows wannabe singer who, tired of being silenced, starts performing on the streets. The festival waited before announcing the film, trying to protect the crew.
“I have nothing but this film. That’s why I’m attending the festival, no matter the outcome and no matter the risk. And about the rest… I’ll think about it later. Iran is my home. I’m going to return, because no one has the right to banish us from our homes.”
In an interesting twist, the best director award went to two helmers for their “impressive directorial statements”: Vytautas Katkus for gentle dramedy “The Visitor” and Nathan Ambrosioni for “Out of Love,” featuring Camille Cottin as a woman suddenly forced to take care of her sisters’ children after her disappearance.
Best actress award was given to Norway’s Pia Tjelta for her fearless turn in Nina Knag’s “Don’t Call Me Mama,” about a mature woman starting an affair with a young refugee.
“You’ve touched me on a such a deep level. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry – I’m tired. But you have changed my life just by how you walk through life. I admire you so much,” said Tjelta to her director.
“It’s a searing portrait of ego, fragility and the lies we tell ourselves about the kind of people we are, which is carried so lightly and yet so convincingly, on her shoulders,” said the jury. They also noticed Àlex Brendemühl, cast as a father of a victim of sexual assault in “When a River Becomes the Sea” by Pere Vilà Barceló.
The Catalan director wanted to underline that sexual violence also “profoundly affects the fathers, brothers and partners of many women” and show the kind of masculinity “that’s not toxic, but compassionate.”
“Her father, despite not having that emotional education, chooses to look directly at his daughter and stay by her side. His presence is quiet, but for me, that’s a powerful gesture. Men also need to be a part of the struggle for equality and that starts with caring for the people we love. This is an issue that should affect all of us, regardless of gender,” he said.
Special Jury Mention was also given to newcomer Kateřina Falbrová for her role in well-received “Broken Voices” by Ondřej Provazník, inspired by the shocking real-life case of abuse that went on for decades.
“Who would have thought that the little girl who showed up at casting would be standing here now?,” she said, adding: “I really hope people my age will see the film.”
In the Proxima Competition, jurors Yulia Evina Bhara, Noaz Deshe, Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias and Marissa Frobes opted for “Sand City” by Mahde Hasan – also given $15,000 – where “cinema becomes a trembling map of the strange, abandoned, and intimate at the edge of sense.”
“Forensics” by Federico Atehortúa Arteaga and “Before/After” by Manoël Dupont were also noticed, earning Proxima Special Jury Prize and Special Mention respectively.
Finally, acclaimed actor Stellan Skarsgård – who made headlines speaking out against Ingmar Bergman – was awarded the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. Skarsgård also presented “Sentimental Value” at the event.
“Stop it – I’m not dead yet,” he deadpanned as the standing ovation went on.
“I wanted to thank my parents who slept together one night in 1951 without being married. They were not too fussy about it, so thank you mama and papa. And thank you to the rest of my family. Some of them are here, some of them are all over the world. There are quite a few of them,” he joked, calling the fest a “beautiful, fantastic tribute to filmmaking. It is keeping it alive even in these hard times.”
Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinematography went to editor Jiří Brožek, who remembered the late Jiří Bartoška.
“I wanted to thank Bartoška for this award, which he arranged for me,” he joked.
The ceremony’s host, Czech actor and TV presenter Marek Eben, noted that despite Bartoška’s passing, it wasn’t a “sad festival.” Quite the opposite.
“It wasn’t sad precisely because of Jiří. We all had memories to share about him, and they are charming. You would see two people sitting at a table, laughing, and they are recalling a dead man. When people talk about you and it puts a smile on their face, that’s a gift. That would be enough for me,” he said, quoting the event’s maintenance man.
“He said: ‘I am going to miss him. He had such a beautiful way of telling us to bugger off.’ It’s a perfect example of how vulgarity can become tender and touching.”
The 59th Karlovy Vary Film Festival was attended by 9,949 accredited visitors. A total of 175 films were screened, including 108 feature fiction films, 23 feature documentaries and 44 short films; 36 films received their world premiere.
Full list of awards:
Crystal Globe Competition
GRAND PRIX – Crystal Globe
“Better Go Mad in the Wild” (“Raději zešílet v divočině”)
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic
Directed by: Miro Remo
Special Jury Prize
Iran
“Bidad”
Directed by: Soheil Beiraghi
Best Director Award – ex-aequo
Vytautas Katkus for “The Visitor” (“Svečias”)
Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
Nathan Ambrosioni for “Out of Love” (“Les Enfants vont bien”)
France
Best Actress Award
Pia Tjelta for “Don’t Call Me Mama” (“Se meg”)
Norway
Directed by: Nina Knag
Best Actor Award
Àlex Brendemühl for “When a River Becomes the Sea” (“Quan un riu esdevé el mar”)
Directed by: Pere Vilà Barceló
Spain
Special Jury Mention
Kateřina Falbrová for the role in “Broken Voices” (“Sbormistr”)
Directed by: Ondřej Provazník
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2025
Právo Audience Award
“We’ve Got to Frame It!” (“Musíme to zarámovat!)
(a conversation with Jiří Bartoška in July 2021)
Directed by: Milan Kuchynka, Jakub Jurásek
Czech Republic
PROXIMA COMPETITION
Proxima Grand Prix
“Sand City” (“Balur Nogorite”)
Bangladesh
Directed by: Mahde Hasan
Proxima Special Jury Prize
“Forensics” (“Forenses”)
Colombia
Directed by: Federico Atehortúa Arteaga
Special Mention
“Before/After” (“Avant/Après”)
Belgium
Directed by: Manoël Dupont
Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema
Stellan Skarsgård
Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinematography
Jiří Brožek
Festival President’s Award
Vicky Krieps
Dakota Johnson
Peter Sarsgaard
The Ecumenical Jury Award
Grand Prize
“Rebuilding”
USA
Directed by: Max Walker-Silverman
USA, 2025
Commendation of the Ecumenical Jury
“Cinema Jazireh”
Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria, Romania
Directed by: Gözde Kural
Europa Cinemas Label Award
“Broken Voices”
FIPRESCI Award
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Crystal Globe Competition
“Out of Love”
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Proxima Competition
“Before / After”
Following hermit twins František and Ondřej Klišík, the Slovak director first discovered them thanks to Aleš Palán’s book. “I contacted Aleš right away, and he brought me into their world,” he said. “I fell in love with them and with their environment. I was fascinated by everything magical and enchantingly unusual.”
Jurors Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl and Tuva Novotny called it “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and a “delightfully inventive documentary.” Despite living on a dilapidated farm, “in a world as mad as ours, [they] actually might be the sanest people on earth.”
They added: “ ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ feels like a gulp of fresh, woody air, or a quick dip in an outdoor pond, or a moment of contemplation as a cow chews on your beard. In short, it feels like being free.”
Variety’s Guy Lodge shared the love for the film, calling it a “poignant, permanent imprint of lives largely lived far outside the gaze of society and the authorities.”
“If I knew it would be such a huge event, I would wear a bowtie. This is the biggest award I have ever received,” enthused Remo.
The Special Jury Prize went to Iranian drama “Bidad” by Soheil Beiraghi, who asked the audience to applaud for the Iranian women “for not being afraid and teaching him how not to be afraid.”
“Morphing from social-injustice thriller into family melodrama into a triumph-over-adversity arc, it is most striking as a gonzo lovers-on-the-run romance, shot through with punk energy and spiky personality that ends on an ambivalent yet optimistic note — because where there’s this much life, there’s hope,” said the jury.
Beiraghi, whose team was unable to join him at the fest, told Variety: “I need to stand by my work. I need to show I have control over my actions. But after the festival? I have no idea what’s going to happen. We have no control over that.”
In the film, he shows wannabe singer who, tired of being silenced, starts performing on the streets. The festival waited before announcing the film, trying to protect the crew.
“I have nothing but this film. That’s why I’m attending the festival, no matter the outcome and no matter the risk. And about the rest… I’ll think about it later. Iran is my home. I’m going to return, because no one has the right to banish us from our homes.”
In an interesting twist, the best director award went to two helmers for their “impressive directorial statements”: Vytautas Katkus for gentle dramedy “The Visitor” and Nathan Ambrosioni for “Out of Love,” featuring Camille Cottin as a woman suddenly forced to take care of her sisters’ children after her disappearance.
Best actress award was given to Norway’s Pia Tjelta for her fearless turn in Nina Knag’s “Don’t Call Me Mama,” about a mature woman starting an affair with a young refugee.
“You’ve touched me on a such a deep level. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry – I’m tired. But you have changed my life just by how you walk through life. I admire you so much,” said Tjelta to her director.
“It’s a searing portrait of ego, fragility and the lies we tell ourselves about the kind of people we are, which is carried so lightly and yet so convincingly, on her shoulders,” said the jury. They also noticed Àlex Brendemühl, cast as a father of a victim of sexual assault in “When a River Becomes the Sea” by Pere Vilà Barceló.
The Catalan director wanted to underline that sexual violence also “profoundly affects the fathers, brothers and partners of many women” and show the kind of masculinity “that’s not toxic, but compassionate.”
“Her father, despite not having that emotional education, chooses to look directly at his daughter and stay by her side. His presence is quiet, but for me, that’s a powerful gesture. Men also need to be a part of the struggle for equality and that starts with caring for the people we love. This is an issue that should affect all of us, regardless of gender,” he said.
Special Jury Mention was also given to newcomer Kateřina Falbrová for her role in well-received “Broken Voices” by Ondřej Provazník, inspired by the shocking real-life case of abuse that went on for decades.
“Who would have thought that the little girl who showed up at casting would be standing here now?,” she said, adding: “I really hope people my age will see the film.”
In the Proxima Competition, jurors Yulia Evina Bhara, Noaz Deshe, Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias and Marissa Frobes opted for “Sand City” by Mahde Hasan – also given $15,000 – where “cinema becomes a trembling map of the strange, abandoned, and intimate at the edge of sense.”
“Forensics” by Federico Atehortúa Arteaga and “Before/After” by Manoël Dupont were also noticed, earning Proxima Special Jury Prize and Special Mention respectively.
Finally, acclaimed actor Stellan Skarsgård – who made headlines speaking out against Ingmar Bergman – was awarded the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. Skarsgård also presented “Sentimental Value” at the event.
“Stop it – I’m not dead yet,” he deadpanned as the standing ovation went on.
“I wanted to thank my parents who slept together one night in 1951 without being married. They were not too fussy about it, so thank you mama and papa. And thank you to the rest of my family. Some of them are here, some of them are all over the world. There are quite a few of them,” he joked, calling the fest a “beautiful, fantastic tribute to filmmaking. It is keeping it alive even in these hard times.”
Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinematography went to editor Jiří Brožek, who remembered the late Jiří Bartoška.
“I wanted to thank Bartoška for this award, which he arranged for me,” he joked.
The ceremony’s host, Czech actor and TV presenter Marek Eben, noted that despite Bartoška’s passing, it wasn’t a “sad festival.” Quite the opposite.
“It wasn’t sad precisely because of Jiří. We all had memories to share about him, and they are charming. You would see two people sitting at a table, laughing, and they are recalling a dead man. When people talk about you and it puts a smile on their face, that’s a gift. That would be enough for me,” he said, quoting the event’s maintenance man.
“He said: ‘I am going to miss him. He had such a beautiful way of telling us to bugger off.’ It’s a perfect example of how vulgarity can become tender and touching.”
The 59th Karlovy Vary Film Festival was attended by 9,949 accredited visitors. A total of 175 films were screened, including 108 feature fiction films, 23 feature documentaries and 44 short films; 36 films received their world premiere.
Full list of awards:
Crystal Globe Competition
GRAND PRIX – Crystal Globe
“Better Go Mad in the Wild” (“Raději zešílet v divočině”)
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic
Directed by: Miro Remo
Special Jury Prize
Iran
“Bidad”
Directed by: Soheil Beiraghi
Best Director Award – ex-aequo
Vytautas Katkus for “The Visitor” (“Svečias”)
Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
Nathan Ambrosioni for “Out of Love” (“Les Enfants vont bien”)
France
Best Actress Award
Pia Tjelta for “Don’t Call Me Mama” (“Se meg”)
Norway
Directed by: Nina Knag
Best Actor Award
Àlex Brendemühl for “When a River Becomes the Sea” (“Quan un riu esdevé el mar”)
Directed by: Pere Vilà Barceló
Spain
Special Jury Mention
Kateřina Falbrová for the role in “Broken Voices” (“Sbormistr”)
Directed by: Ondřej Provazník
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2025
Právo Audience Award
“We’ve Got to Frame It!” (“Musíme to zarámovat!)
(a conversation with Jiří Bartoška in July 2021)
Directed by: Milan Kuchynka, Jakub Jurásek
Czech Republic
PROXIMA COMPETITION
Proxima Grand Prix
“Sand City” (“Balur Nogorite”)
Bangladesh
Directed by: Mahde Hasan
Proxima Special Jury Prize
“Forensics” (“Forenses”)
Colombia
Directed by: Federico Atehortúa Arteaga
Special Mention
“Before/After” (“Avant/Après”)
Belgium
Directed by: Manoël Dupont
Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema
Stellan Skarsgård
Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinematography
Jiří Brožek
Festival President’s Award
Vicky Krieps
Dakota Johnson
Peter Sarsgaard
The Ecumenical Jury Award
Grand Prize
“Rebuilding”
USA
Directed by: Max Walker-Silverman
USA, 2025
Commendation of the Ecumenical Jury
“Cinema Jazireh”
Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria, Romania
Directed by: Gözde Kural
Europa Cinemas Label Award
“Broken Voices”
FIPRESCI Award
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Crystal Globe Competition
“Out of Love”
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Proxima Competition
“Before / After”