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AWARDS Czech Republic

Czech critics name Lost in Munich the best domestic film of 2015

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- Petr Zelenka's inventive movie has emerged victorious, netting three awards

Czech critics name Lost in Munich the best domestic film of 2015
Petr Zelenka (left), holding his Award for Best Screenplay, and Lubor Dohnal (© Roman Vondrouš/ČTK)

On Saturday evening, Czech film critics hosted their sixth annual awards ceremony celebrating the best oeuvres of the last year from the country's range of film productions. The shortlist served to reveal the three most likely candidates (read the news): the social dramedy The Snake Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Prušinovský
film profile
]
, the bittersweet comedy-drama Home Care [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Slávek Horák
film profile
]
and the rather experimental satire Lost in Munich [+see also:
trailer
interview: Petr Zelenka
film profile
]
. The Best Film Award went directly to David Ondříček, the producer of Lost in Munich, after the film's director, Petr Zelenka, netted both Best Screenplay and Best Director. The movie's reviews were unanimously positive, calling it “singular arthouse fare”; nevertheless, it did not perform extraordinarily well at the domestic box office. 

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The Czech Film Critics' Awards are likely to be only the first wave of prizes that Zelenka's original and inventive film will take home, as Lost in Munich also dominates the nominations for the Czech Lions, awarded by the Czech Film and Television Academy. The film boasts nominations in the main categories as well as in the technical ones, including Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Music, Best Stage Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Make-up and Hairstyling. On the whole, the Czech Lion nominations replicate the critics' opinions, with Lost in Munich boasting 15 nominations, The Snake Brothers 12 and Home Care nine, although the latter, Slávek Horák's celebrated debut, shares its spot on the list with Alice Nellis' fairy tale Seven Ravens [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. The winners of the 23rd annual Czech Lion Awards will be announced on 5 March in Prague. 

The Czech film critics did not make either Best Cinematography or Best Music nominations this year, unlike at previous editions, although they did create one category that encapsulates all technical expertise, in the Best Audiovisual Work nod. One stop-motion and one puppet film were shortlisted for their art design, while Schmitke [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, the debut film by Štěpán Altrichter, co-produced by Germany, was nominated for its atmospheric and surrealistic sound. Philipp Schneider and Christoph de la Chevallerie picked up the award on behalf of Schmitke's entire sound team. Young filmmaker Altrichter did not leave the hall empty-handed either, as he was named Discovery of the Year for his dreamlike existential comedy. Actors Alena Mihulová and Kryštof Hádek experienced déjà vu after the critics honoured them with the same awards that they had received from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival jury last year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

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

Best Documentary
Lean a Ladder Against Heaven – Jana Ševčíková

Best Director
Petr Zelenka – Lost in Munich

Best Screenplay
Petr Zelenka – Lost in Munich

Best Audiovisual Work
Schmitke [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Štěpán Altrichter (for its sound)

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

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

RWE Award for Discovery of the Year
Štěpán Altrichter (director and writer) – Schmitke

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