Peter Sarsgaard was recognized with the KVIFF President’s Award on the opening night of the 59th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where he used his speech to highlight the power of unity and the importance of collaboration, both in filmmaking and beyond.
The Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, who also won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, reflected on how his craft thrives through shared effort.
Highlighting how “making a film is a collective action,” he insisted “that good work is only possible in an environment that supports it, There is no going it alone,” as per Variety.
Turning his attention to current challenges in the U.S., he emphasized the need for solidarity amid deepening social and political divides.
“As my country retreats from its global responsibilities and tries to go it alone, it is also being divided into factions from within, factions of politics, gender, sexuality, race, Jews split over the war. But when there’s a common enemy, there is no going it alone,” he continued.
Calling out “the forces that divide” Skarsgaard said that “collective action is the only way forward in art and in our happiness.”
Further, he expressed gratitude and quoted the Czech statesman and playwright Vaclav Havel, and said, “one half of a room cannot remain forever warm while the other half is cold.”
In celebration of his career, the festival is screening Shattered Glass, the 2003 journalism drama directed by Billy Ray, for which Sarsgaard earned a Golden Globe nomination.
Other notable guests at this year’s festival, running from July 4 to 12, include Michael Douglas, Stellan Skarsgård, and Dakota Johnson.
