Interview with Michal Caban, KVIFF master of ceremonies

Attendees of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) tend to rave about the star-studded lineup in attendance, the festive, even celebratory atmosphere that takes over the picturesque Czech spa town during the event – ​​and these action-packed opening ceremonies.

Past years have seen ice skaters, horses, flames and bloodbaths kick off the party with a bang and leave guests breathless. This year’s 58th edition of KVIFF kicked off Friday with a sort of best-of of characters and themes from past ceremonies.

As has become a tradition, the fun and excitement are served by the Caban brothers. They are Michal Caban, director of the opening and closing ceremony of KVIFF, director, choreographer and master of ceremonies, and his brother Šimon Caban, co-director of the opening and closing ceremony of KVIFF , architect, scenographer and director.

Michal Caban, in an email interview, said THR on the duo’s inspirations, the challenges they faced with some of their daring shows, how the annual magic is achieved through fast-paced action unity and their other work, including at the Paris Summer Olympics.

You’ve done so many crazy and exciting Karlovy Vary Festival opening shows – with ice skaters, fire, vertical dancing and much more – that always seem to leave the audience breathless and amazed. How do you find your inspiration each year?

I am not alone in this. For 28 years, I have been doing the first performances with my brother Simon. This gives us a great advantage because every time, at least one of us has an idea. And fortunately, we have enough ideas for now. Our brotherly and festival collaboration comes from our joint theatre project, Baletni jednotka Krec (Ballet Unit Cramp). We founded this group in the 1980s and defined that we liked large, dynamic tableaux, full of a strong atmosphere. And I think we have transferred this to the festival.

Have you ever been afraid of running out of ideas? And do you remember any shows where inspiration came to you in a particularly unusual or funny way?

Sometimes the idea comes later, but we don’t worry about not having one. Very often, when making [the show of] Every year an idea for another show arises. Usually we have several points of view, and then in a joint discussion with my brother we focus on one of them. Inspiration comes from everywhere: we look, we perceive, but above all, we have a fairly vivid imagination. One day I was watching television and there was a report on a world championship in pairs trampoline jumping. In fact, I didn’t know at the time that such a thing, synchronized trampoline jumping, existed. So I said to myself, let’s do it with more people, a bit like a dance, different…