The annual showcase of Czech cinema, Finále Plzeň (11-16 April - see the news), has drawn to a close while simultaneously wrapping up the awards season for domestic cinema. After the Czech Film Critics’ Awards (see the news) and the Czech Lions (see the news), the various different juries consisting of international film professionals got the chance to voice their opinions on Czech cinema from the past season. Slovenian director Sonja Prosenc, film theory professor Loreta Gandolfi, producer Aija Brezina, Italian actor Christian Vit (of Game of Thrones fame) and producer Denis Mujović deliberated on which movie would be crowned Best Fiction or Animated Feature. They plumped for one of the boldest domestic debuts of the past year, the minimalistic social body horror Domestique [+lee también:
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German curator, lecturer and writer Grit Lemke, documentary filmmaker and actress Nino Kirtadze, and Doclisboa programmer Miguel Ribeiro handed the Award for Best Documentary to Tomáš Bojar’s Breaking News [+lee también:
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Other juries were hard at work selecting the laureates in categories such as Best Episodic Television or Internet Project, which saw the victory of the crime miniseries Rédl, set in post-revolution Czechoslovakia and revolving around organised crime. The series forms part of Czech Television’s original programming, as does the two-part film about the worst mining accident in the history of the country, Dukla 61, which scored another win for the public broadcaster when it scooped the Award for Best Non-episodic TV or Internet Project.

Besides industry professionals, student juries also had a go at picking out what they thought were the best gems from among the domestic audiovisual output. Their opinions clearly differed, as the students crowned the period biopic Toman [+lee también:
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The 2019 edition of Finále Plzeň managed to draw in 14,500 viewers to enjoy its 127 screenings. The festival’s director, Eva Veruňková Košařová, noted that visitors not only flocked to watch the obvious films, but they were also interested “in movies that are perceived as marginal in the cinemas”. The showcase also featured 12 premieres and pre-premieres of upcoming films.

Next year’s edition of Finále Plzeň will run from 16-21 April.

Here is the complete list of winners:

The Golden Kingfisher Award

Best Film
Domestique [+lee también:
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Best Documentary
Breaking News [+lee también:
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Best Episodic TV or Internet Project
Rédl – Jan Hřebejk (Czech Republic) 

Best Non-episodic TV or Internet Project
Dukla 61 – David Ondříček (Czech Republic) 

Best Student Short Film
Apart – Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic)

Student Jury Award 

Best Film
Toman [+lee también:
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Best Documentary
Central Bus Station – Tomáš Elšík (Czech Republic) 

Best Episodic TV or Internet Project
Most! – Jan Prušinovský (Czech Republic)

Best Non-episodic TV or Internet Project
Metanol – Tereza Kopáčová (Czech Republic)