KARLOVY VARY – Robert Richardson, a three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, was awarded the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contributions to world cinema during the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Sunday.
The honor, presented in the award’s 80th year, recognizes Richardson’s influence on the visual language of global cinema over the past four decades. The festival highlighted Richardson as one of the few living cinematographers to have received three Oscars for Best Cinematography, specifically for JFK, The Aviator, and Hugo.
The ceremony took place at the Grand Hall of the Hotel Thermal, where actor Harvey Keitel presented the award following a retrospective highlight reel of Richardson’s professional work. Richardson’s career includes collaborations with high-profile talent including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, and Margot Robbie.
During his acceptance speech, Richardson addressed the role of international festivals in preserving the medium of film as an art form, at a time when public film funding and cultural policy in many countries is increasingly tied to measurable audience reach and digital distribution mandates set by national ministries of culture and public broadcasters.
“I look out into the streets here, and I see so many people and so many here within this hall, and there are so many young people. What I think this particular award represents is a singular future, the future that we all need and want. I love that this festival opens the opportunity for seeing films that we rarely see, and holding films as [an] art [form].”
Richardson also commented on the necessity of expanding global access to independent and smaller-scale cinema through digital distribution, implicitly echoing ongoing European debates over platform obligations and access to cultural works under frameworks such as the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
“What I’m hoping for one day in the future is that more countries can be reached through streaming or whatever at no cost for everyone to be able to see what we cannot see and to see all the work that many of you are going to do,” Richardson said, framing access to film culture as a public-good question rather than solely a commercial one.
The event included a personal exchange between Richardson and Keitel. Richardson recounted his first viewing of Mean Streets, noting that he initially mistook Keitel’s performance for that of Robert De Niro.
“When I first saw Mean Streets, everyone spoke about a must-see performance of Bob De Niro, and the movie was over, and I was like ‘great!’ … Time passes, I’m talking about the movie, and the person I thought was Bob De Niro was Harvey Keitel. His performance was so commanding,” Richardson stated.
Keitel, after ripping up his prepared notes, responded: “But seeing Bob’s work speaks for itself. We have before us one of the world’s greatest cinematographers. So, that’s all I have to say.”
Professional Retrospective and Documentary Premiere
The presentation of the Crystal Globe coincided with the world premiere of Robert Richardson: The White Devil, a feature documentary directed by Czech filmmaker Jana Hojdová. The film examines the life and career of the cinematographer, whose nickname refers to both his appearance and his rigorous standards for cinematic perfection.
The premiere, held as part of KVIFF’s official selection, underscores the festival’s dual role as both a showcase for new international work and a state-recognized cultural institution within the Czech Republic’s publicly supported film ecosystem, operating alongside bodies such as the Czech Film Fund.
During the premiere, Hojdová presented Richardson with a bracelet, prompting Richardson to explain a long-standing professional superstition.
“I have a tradition – every time I start a movie, I have one bracelet, and I wear it for the entire movie. … When they come off, that means the film’s gonna die,” Richardson explained.
Richardson’s recognition is part of a broader series of honors at KVIFF’s double anniversary edition, which has also featured Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jesse Eisenberg, as programmers lean on high-profile retrospectives to reinforce the festival’s status in the competitive European circuit that feeds into national and cross-border film funding decisions.
The feature documentary Robert Richardson: The White Devil has completed its world premiere, positioning the film for subsequent festival bookings and potential distribution negotiations in line with European co-production and circulation rules, including those shaping eligibility for the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA support schemes.