Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey, Black Mess, Suspiria) got feted at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Saturday as the audience for one of her latest movies showered the Hollywood star with enthusiastic applause and love, and she received one of the Czech fest’s honors.
On a summer-y and warm evening of day three of the 59th edition of the festival in the spa town, its streets were full of activity, with people rushing to and from movie screenings, grooving along to concerts, and eating and drinking in outdoor restaurants and bars.
Meanwhile, inside a cinema in the Grandhotel Pupp, which James Bond fans may remember as the Montenegro hotel featured in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s first outing as the famous spy (with Craig’s Bond and Eva Green’s Vesper also having a late dinner at the hotel’s restaurant), Johnson was called on stage to get the KVIFF President’s Award. She obliged ahead of a screening of her new film Materialists, which was directed by Celine Song and also stars Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.
The audience showered her in applause and appreciation, with photos being snapped and videos being recorded by most in the auditorium.
Johnson was then lauded with the award statuette, to another round of raucous applause. In her brief thank you speech, the star lauded Materialists writer and director Celine Song as “probably the best filmmaker of our time.”
When Johnson left the stage to more cheers and claps from the up-for-it crowd, everyone was ready for Materialists.
It is not the only movie that the actress brought to Karlovy Vary, though. On Saturday evening, Johnson presented the Michael Angelo Covino-directed romantic comedy Splitsville, which she also produced under her TeaTime Pictures banner, launched in 2019 with her producing partner, Ro Donnelly.
“I hope these are films that ignite fire in people’s hearts and minds about love and how we treat each other and what we want for ourselves,” Johnson said.
Earlier in the festival day, Johnson told reporters that she would likely direct her first feature soon, that wants to continue telling female-centric stories through her TeaTime Pictures, avoid “toxic sets,” measure the success of movies in terms of viewer impact rather than box office, and that she would love to play a psychopath.
The star also expressed her gratitude for the invitation to the fest. “This looks like Disneyland. It’s crazy here. It’s so beautiful,” she told reporters about the picturesque Karlovy Vary. “And I just couldn’t feel more grateful.”
KVIFF runs through July 12.