COMEBACK COMPANY

An annual film festival of current European cinema held in New York, in three venues in its fifth edition—the IFC Center, the Bohemian National Hall, and Museum of the Moving Image. The number of organizing partners grew from eight in the first year to 34 in the fifth. Attendance more than doubled from the first year to the fifth, totaling over 1,500 admissions in 2013. (Curator/producer) 

2013 Disappearing Act V
Screenings of 24 films with eight guests in three cinemas; expansion of the educational outreach program; and a panel discussion devoted to the streaming of European films in the U.S. (visit DAV Blog here for program details).

2012 Disappearing Act IV 
Screenings of 25 films with six guests, expansion to three cinemas; addition of an educational outreach program; and a panel discussion devoted to the presence of European cinema at universities in the U.S.

2011 Disappearing Act III
Screenings of 19 films with three guests and a panel discussion publicly launching the Subtitled Cinema Initiative.

2010 Disappearing Act II
Screenings of 18 films with one guest and a panel discussion on the distribution of foreign language films in the U.S.

2009 Disappearing Act: European Cinema from New Wave to New Wave 
Screenings of 18 films with three guests and a panel discussion on the access of foreign language films to cinemas in the U.S.

A touring series of recent Czech films screening in eight cities that was organized in collaboration with the Czech Film Center, Czech Center New York, and Czech diplomatic offices and premiered in New York at BAMcinématek; the touring program originated as an annual series that ran in New York beginning in 2000, also at BAMcinématek. (Curator/co-producer)

Irena Kovarova has produced tours of thematic and filmmaker retrospectives in art cinema venues around the U.S. and Canada, with varying level of curatorial participation: 

2012–2013 The second major North American film retrospective of Jan Švankmajer, presented in 16 venues

2011 The second major film retrospective of František Vláčil in North America, presented in five American venues

2009 The first complete film retrospective of Karel Vachek in North America, presented in six venues

2008 A historical survey/retrospective of Slovenian Cinema, co-curated with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and presented in four venues in North America

2008 A complete film retrospective of Miloš Forman, co-curated with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the premiering venue, and presented in 13 cities, including as part of the Regis Dialogue program at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis

2006–2007 A thematic retrospective, Czech Modernism: 1926-1949, co-curated with BAMcinématek in New York, the premiering venue, and presented in five cities.

Since 2007, Irena Kovarova has been the executive producer of a globally touring retrospective with guest speakers titled Muppets™, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy, organized by the Jim Henson Legacy foundation; the series has had nearly 60 bookings around North America and in Australia, Argentina, the UK, and Singapore. 

In 2010, Irena curated and co-produced Cinema Belgrade, a  series of current Serbian cinema in New York.

Since 2005, Irena has been a representative of the Czech Film Center in North America.

During her 1999–2004 tenure as deputy and acting director at the Czech Center New York, Irena organized and co-curated (*) the following film programs: four annual editions of New Czech Films at BAMcinématek; a tour of Gustav Machatý’s Erotikon with live music accompaniment in 2000; touring film retrospectives of Pavel Juráček*, František Vláčil*, Jan Švankmajer*, Karel Zeman*, and Věra Chytilová*; and the series Czech Horror & Fantasy on Film and Czech Animation (each retrospective screened in 5–12 venues in North America).