Last year, Stellan Skarsgård attended the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to receive its highest honor. This year, the Swedish superstar, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier’s international Oscar-winning Sentimental Value, is back in the Czech spa town, gracing its big screens as the star of this year’s KVIFF trailer.
Such work was, of course, not a topic of debate yet when the actor reflected on his life, career and working with the likes of Lars von Trier and Ingmar Bergman during a special recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast in front of a packed house last year. But his involvement ensures the proper star power for this year’s special double anniversary edition of KVIFF, the world’s second-oldest film festival.
He joins the likes of Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Helen Mirren, Benicio del Toro, Harvey Keitel, Milos Forman, Danny DeVito, Casey Affleck, Andy Garcia and John Malkovich, who are among the big names who previously featured in KVIFF trailers.
What awaits you, you are wondering? Well, we won’t spoil too much as the Karlovy Vary trailers are always a quick and fun watch. As has become tradition, the 2026 short was created by Ivan Zachariás, the longtime creator of the fest trailers, who recently traveled to Sweden to work on this year’s version with Skarsgård. And it was made in the style of Ingmar Bergman. The veteran Swedish star brings, of course, his own twist and style to the short film.i
“Our extraordinary collection of original festival trailers has been expanded to include a micro-story featuring last year’s recipient of a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema, actor Stellan Skarsgård,” the fest said, without disclosing further details about the trailer.
Let’s just say that you can mentally prepare for Skarsgård to surprise you. But enough said. Watch the KVIFF 2026 trailer, starring Skarsgård, right here.
