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Michael Douglas: 'There’s so much conflict in the world. It’s all the more reason we should be making movies, being creative …'
Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
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A special gala screening at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest in the presence of Michael Douglas who produced the film with Saull Zaentz.
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Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Photo: Film Servis Karlovy Vary
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The film received five Oscars including Best Picture in 1975 and was directed by Czech icon Milos Forman. Douglas will be accompanied by Saul's nephew Paul Zaentz - a producer in his own right, with such films as The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley to his credit - as well as members of Forman’s family.
Forman was a loyal supporter of the festival over the years. Douglas, Zaentz and and actor Danny DeVito, who starred alongside Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, have all been awarded the festival’s Crystal Globe Award for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema in 1998.
Festival executive director Kryštof Mucha said: “We are truly honoured to present One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on its 50th anniversary. The presence of Michael Douglas, Paul Zaentz, and the Forman family will make this an unforgettable moment in the festival’s history.”
Adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest follows Randle McMurphy, a rebellious gambler whose defiance of authority challenges the rigid confines of a mental institution. A release from the Festival said: "A powerful parable of freedom versus control, the film marked a turning point in Forman’s career and paved the way for his later international successes."
The film made Oscar history as only the second to win all five major Academy Award categories: Best Picture (Douglas and Zaentz), Best Director (Forman), Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Fletcher), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman).
Douglas has been doing the rounds of European festivals to present the film with an appearance yesterday at Sicily’s Taormina Festival where he reflected on global turmoil. “I was born at the end of World War II, but in my lifetime, this is the worst time that I can ever remember. There’s much too much conflict in the world. It’s all the more reason why we should be making movies, being creative … “
Besides the festival appearances Douglas has been clocking up awards with lifetime achievement gongs from Taormina and in 2023 from the Cannes Film Festival among others.
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The way they were in 1998: Michael Douglas and and the late Jiri Bartoska, an actor and previous president of Karlovy Vary Film Festival for many years
Photo: Film Servis Karlovy Vary
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