24/02/2014 - Burning Bush continues scooping awards at the Czech Lions, snagging 11 awards out of its 14 nominations

The Czech Film and Television Academy handed out awards for the 21st time on Saturday night (22 February). The bulk of the contenders consisted of 29 fiction and animated features and 17 documentary films released throughout 2013. In contrast with last year, the Academy decided to omit the categories of Audience Favourite, Most Visited Film (which would have been given to Babovřesky), Best Foreign Film and the Film Critics' Awards (as they had their own ceremony, which took place a month prior to the Czech Lions). On the other hand, a new category was created: the Film Fans' Award, which was established in partnership with the popular Czech Film Database.

The outcome had already been foreshadowed by the Czech Film Critics' Awards as well as by the nominations themselves. Agnieszka Holland's Burning Bush [+see also:
trailer
film profile] was nominated in 14 categories, Like Never Before [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 12, Revival [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Nellis
film profile] by Alice Nellis and Pleasure by Jitka Rudolfová in 11, and Clownwise by Viktor Tauš in eight.

Considering the fact it led the nominations, as well as winning six prizes at the Czech Film Critics' Awards and being nominated as the Czech favourite for the Oscars this year, it was not a surprise that Burning Bush won 11 awards (Best Film, Best Direction, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Music, Best Setting, Best Costumes, Best Make-up). On top of this, it also won the Film Fans' Award, dominating the poll created by the Czech Film Database (with Crooks and Revival not far behind). This poll was voted on by users of the database, and the result means that the next film by Agnieszka Holland will enjoy a massive publicity campaign put on by the database. Moreover, Burning Bush has set a new record, toppling To Kill Sekal (1997) from its throne - the latter had been the undisputed champion of the Czech Lions with its 10 awards.

The rest of the awards were split between two films: psychological drama Like Never Before (Best Actress for Petra Špalková, and Best Actor for Jiří Schmitzer) and a comedy drama about elderly clowns, Clownwise (Best Supporting Actor for Jiří Lábus). The Glass Lion statuette for Best Documentary went to Silvie Dymáková for Crooks, a film that debunks the dubious practices behind product demonstration excursions for elderly people.