A young Iranian gets involved in black market caviar smuggling to earn the cash he needs for his marriage in Behrooz Karamizade's searing drama Empty Nets, premiering at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. To read my Hollywood Reporter review, click here.

Cyril Aris' documentary Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano chronicles the travails of a production company trying to make a movie in Lebanon, beset by obstacles in the wake of the devastating 2020 Port of Beirut explosion.To read my Hollywood Reporter of the film receiving its world premiere at Karlovy Vary, click here.

------Frank Scheck