The 29^th edition of the annual awards ceremony organised by the Czech Film and Television Academy, the Czech Lions, reflected the current situation that has been shaking the entire world, as the organisers and participants voiced their support for Ukraine. The Czech and Film Television Academy cancelled the traditional red carpet and party, and instead donated 300,000 Czech crowns (roughly €12,000) to help Ukraine. The ceremony opened with Ukrainian diplomat Yevhen Perebiinis taking the microphone, who thanked those watching for the support and called for the boycott of Russian cinema in the Czech Republic. The humanitarian fundraiser for Ukraine continued throughout the evening, and viewers managed to donate 5.6 million Czech crowns (€216,722) in total. For the whole night, the participants continued to voice their support for the country amidst the military conflict.

Two domestic films had been leading the nominations: the biopic drama Zátopek [+lee también:
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entrevista: David Ondříček
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entrevista: Michal Nohejl
ficha de la película]. The latter dominated the Czech Film Critics’ Awards, which took place in early February, as the movie won the Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Script and Discovery of the Year for its director Michal Nohejl. However, despite the flick’s success, Czech academy members did not necessarily share the opinion of the film critics, and this proved to be yet another justification for the existence of two parallel domestic awards ceremonies.

Zátopek came out on top at the Czech Lion ceremony, winning eight accolades out of the 13 nominations it had racked up. It thus scooped Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Make-up and Hairstyling, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Set Design (plus two non-statutory prizes, Best Film Poster and the Film Fans’ Award). Furthermore, the Czech Film and Television Academy picked Zátopek as the Czech submission for the Oscars race.

Occupation turned out to be the second-most-lauded film of the night, winning three awards out of its 13 nominations: Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Music. Emerging documentarian Adéla Komrzý took home the Best Documentary Award for Intensive Life Unit [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], the puppet stop-motion feature Even Mice Belong in Heaven [+lee también:
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Here is the complete list of Czech Lion winners:

Best Film
Zátopek [+lee también:
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entrevista: David Ondříček
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Best Documentary
Intensive Life Unit [+lee también:
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Best Director
David Ondříček - Zátopek

Best Actress
Pavla Gajdošíková – Emma in Love (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Best Actor
Václav Neužil - Zátopek

Best Supporting Actress
Antonie Formanová – Occupation [+lee también:
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entrevista: Michal Nohejl
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Best Supporting Actor
Oldřich Kaiser – The Man With Hare Ears [+lee también:
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entrevista: Martin Šulík
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Best Screenplay
Marek Šindelka, Vojtěch Mašek - Occupation

Best Cinematography
Štěpán Kučera - Zátopek

Best Editing
Jarosław Kamiński - Zátopek

Best Sound
Pavel Rejholec, Jakub Čech - Zátopek

Best Music
La Petite Sonja, Hank J Manchini - Occupation

Best Set Design
Jan Vlasák - Zátopek

Best Costume Design
Katarína Štrbová Bieliková - Božena

Best Make-up and Hairstyling
Jana Dopitová - Zátopek

Best Television Film or Minsieries
Božena – Lenka Wimmerová

Best Television Drama Series
The Defender – Tereza Kopáčová, Tomáš Feřtek, Matěj Podzimek

Best Animated Film
Even Mice Belong in Heaven [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] – Denisa Grimmová, Jan Bubeníček (Czech Republic/France/Slovakia/Poland)

Best Short Film
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen

Extraordinary Audiovisual Achievement
Václav Marhoul - The Painted Bird [+lee también:
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entrevista: Václav Marhoul
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Honorary Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Czech Cinema
Ivo Špajl

Non-statutory awards

Magnesia Award for Best Student Film
Love, Dad – Diana Cam Van Nguyen

Best Film Poster
Aleš Najbrt, Jakub Spurný, Julie Vrabelová – Zátopek

Film Fans’ Award
Zátopek – David Ondříček