23/02/2015 - Unexpectedly, the sports drama Fair Play left the ceremony empty-handed despite boasting nominations in every single category

The producers of The Way Out accept the Best Film Award at the Czech Lions (© Czech Television)

One day before the Oscars, the 22nd edition of the Czech Film and Television Academy’s annual Czech Lion Awards took place in Prague to celebrate last year’s batch of domestic films. The ceremony overseen by Czech director Jan Svěrák had its downs, including an appearance by a Jim Carrey impersonator, but also its ups, as the winners were announced by a range of highly renowned and well-respected doctors.

The favourite of the night, the sports drama Fair Play [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], chosen by the academy as the Czech Oscars submission, was nominated in every single category apart from Best Documentary – although the movie’s director, Andrea Sedláčková, had also garnered a doc nomination for Life According to Václav Havel, her portrait of the writer, dissident and statesman. However, eyebrows were raised as none of Fair Play’s nominees were called to the stage as the night went on. Against all odds, Petr Václav’s social drama The Way Out [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petr Václav
film profile] dominated the evening, winning seven awards out of a total of ten nominations, including Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film. Apparently the academy members had second thoughts and, in the end, decided to follow the lead of the film critics (see the news). Even though Fair Play left the ceremony empty-handed, it did win two non-statutory awards: Best Film Poster and the Film Fans’ Award, which was voted for via a poll by users of the Czech and Slovak Film Database.

The feature debut by Miroslav Krobot, the bleak comedy-drama Nowhere in Moravia [+see also:
trailer
film profile], snagged Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while for the first time in the history of the Czech Lions, the Best Actress Award went to a non-professional actress: Klaudia Dudová, who plays the main character in The Way Out, went from working in a shop to appearing at Cannes (see the news). The Czech film critics also appreciated her authentic performance, as did Slovakia’s Art Film Fest (see the news). In fact, director Petr Václav has also cast her in his upcoming feature that is currently in production, Never Alone, alongside Karel Roden. The musical fairy tale and last year’s most-visited film in Czech theatres, Three Brothers [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Jan Svěrák and written by his father, Zdeněk Svěrák (the father-son duo behind the Oscar- and Golden Globe-awarded Kolya), took home three technical prizes. Lastly, Olga [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a portrait of Václav Havel’s first wife, by Miroslav Janek, won the Best Documentary Award, contrary to the general expectation that the trophy would fall to the much-lauded Into the Clouds We Gaze.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Film
The Way Out – Miloš Lochman, Jan Macola, Karel Chvojka

Best Documentary
Olga – Miroslav Janek

Best Director
The Way Out – Petr Václav

Best Actress
The Way Out – Klaudia Dudová

Best Actor
Nowhere in Moravia – Ivan Trojan

Best Supporting Actress
Nowhere in Moravia – Lenka Krobotová

Best Supporting Actor
Nowhere in Moravia – Jaroslav Plesl

Best Screenplay
The Way Out – Petr Václav

Best Cinematography
The Way Out – Štěpán Kučera

Best Editing
The Way Out – Florent Mangeot 

Best Sound
The Way Out – Daniel Němec, Ivan Horák

Best Music
Krásno [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Jan P Muchow

Best Scenography
Three Brothers – Jan Vlasák

Best Costumes
Three Brothers – Simona Rybáková

Best Make-up
Three Brothers – Zdeněk Klika