07/03/2016 - Jan Prušinovský’s social dramedy has topped the Czech Film and Television Academy’s list of the best films

Director Jan Prušinovský (left) and producer Ondrej Zima with the Best Film Award for The Snake Brothers (© Michal Dolezal)

A month after the Czech film critics’ awards ceremony (read the news), the Czech Film and Television Academy got a chance to cast its votes in order to honour domestic production from the last year at the 23^rd edition of the annual Czech Lion Awards. Similarly to the critics’ opinions, the likeliest contenders were the unconventional political comedy Lost in Munich [+see also:
trailer
interview: Petr Zelenka
film profile] (with 15 nominations) by Petr Zelenka, Jan Prušinovský’s social dramedy The Snake Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Prušinovský
film profile] (12 nominations) and the bittersweet comedy Home Care [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Slávek Horák
film profile] (nine nominations) by first-timer Slávek Horák. Seven Ravens [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the fairy tale by Alice Nellis, was nominated in nine categories, while emerging director Štěpán Altrichter got eight nods for his mysterious comedy Schmitke [+see also:
film review
film profile], and a fictionalised biography of Jan Saudek, The Photograph [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (starring Karel Roden as the artist), boasted seven nominations.

The ceremony followed a different course compared to how the film critics voted (they awarded Petr Zelenka’s oeuvre in the main categories), and thus it was Jan Prušinovský’s realistic social tale The Snake Brothers, penned by budding scriptwriter Jaroslav Žváček, that shone through at the gala. The Best Film and Best Director Awards were handed to Prušinovský on stage, while his team did not leave empty-handed, either. Siblings Matěj
and Kryštof Hádek, who played the protagonists, took home the Best Actor Awards in the main and supporting categories, respectively, whereas Lucie Žáčková won for Best Supporting Actress and DoP Petr Koblovský received the Best Cinematography Award. In a public poll, film aficionados voted The Snake Brothers as the winner of the Film Fan Award. 

The critics’ favourite, Lost in Munich, netted only two prizes, for Best Script and Best Editing, the same number that Altrichter’s atmospheric feature debut Schmitke ended up winning (Best Sound Design and Best Music). Seven Ravens was successful in reaping accolades in the technical categories, snagging Best Stage Design, Best Costumes, and Best Make-up and Hairstyling. The Czech pick for the Oscars race (read the news), Home Care, earned itself only one statue, and that was for Alena Mihulová’s performance in the leading role. In fact, she was presented with the same award after the movie’s world premiere at Karlovy Vary last year (read the news).

For the first time, the academy decided to award not only films, but also television production, considering the rising quality of TV shows. “We therefore decided to increase the number of Czech Lions awarded with three television categories. Individual features and series will first be nominated by television companies, and then in the second round, they will be evaluated by the votes of the academy members,” said Tereza Rychnovská, managing director of the Czech Film and Television Academy. The Best Drama Series Award went to HBO’s crime show Mamon, starring Matěj Hádek, whilst Czech Television’s film American Letters, about a secret episode in the life of composer Antonín Dvořák, won the Best Television Film Award.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Film
The Snake Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Prušinovský
film profile] – Jan Prušinovský

Best Documentary
Lean a Ladder Against Heaven – Jana Ševčíková

Best Director
Jan Prušinovský – The Snake Brothers

Best Actress
Alena Mihulová – Home Care [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Slávek Horák
film profile]

Best Actor
Matěj Hádek – The Snake Brothers 

Best Supporting Actress
Lucie Žáčková – The Snake Brothers

Best Supporting Actor 
Kryštof Hádek – The Snake Brothers

Best Screenplay
Petr Zelenka – Lost in Munich [+see also:
trailer
interview: Petr Zelenka
film profile]

Best Cinematography
Petr Koblovský – The Snake Brothers

Best Editing 
Vladimír Barák – Lost in Munich

Best Sound
Christoph de la Chevallerie – Schmitke [+see also:
film review
film profile]

Best Music 
Johannes Repka – Schmitke [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Stage Design
Ondřej Mašek, Peter Čanecký – Seven Ravens [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Costumes
Kateřina Štefková – Seven Ravens

Best Make-up
Juraj Steiner – Seven Ravens

Exceptional Feat in Audiovisual Arts
Blaník Office (season 3)

Best Television Film or Miniseries
American Letters

Best Television Drama Series
Mamon

Best Television Documentary or Series
Film Spa

Magnesia Award for Best Student Film (non-statutory award)
Peacock – Ondřej Hudeček

Film Fan Award (non-statutory award)
The Snake Brothers – Jan Prušinovský

Best Film Poster (non-statutory award)
Michal Tilsch – The Snake Brothers