FNE at the Czech Lions 2009

10-03-2009

By Anna Franklin

Petr Zelenka's The Karamazovs, based on a theatre production of the famous book, picked up the prize for both best film and best director at this year's Czech Lions, (7 March) the Czech equivalent of the Oscars.

The guest list at event organized by Vachler Art (http://www.vac.cz/) was as usual a who's who of Czech film but the undoubted star of the evening was former president Vaclav Havel who came on stage when Miroslav Janek's and Pavel Koutecky's Citizen Havel was awarded the prize for best documentary. The doc is a major achievement that follows the life of the playwright and former president over 15 years of his life.

It was a strong year for Czech films and prizes were divided between top contenders Karamazov, Bohan Slama's Country Teacher and Vaclav Marhoul's WWI drama Tobruk. Juraj Jakuvisko's Bathory which topped the Czech box office in 2008 received a special award as the most popular film for Czech audiences. The film with nearly one million admissions pulled in nearly as many admissions as the combined admissions of all other Czech films released that year.

Winners: Czech Lions 2008

Best Film

The Karamazovs

(Produced by Prvni verejnopravni www.cestmir.cz/Czech Republic and Warsaw Pact Film Production/Poland and Czech Television www.ceskatelevize.cz)

Best Director

Petr Zelenka: Karamazovs

Best Script

Bohdan Slama: Country Teacher (Produced by Negativ www.negativ.cz)

Best Cinematography

Vladimir Smutny: Tobruk (Produced by Silver Screen www.silverscreen.cz)

Music

Richard Horowitz, Sussan Deyhim: Tobruk