The main prize of Trilobite 2022 was won by the creators of the film Don’t Leave Traces
Updates: 22.01.2022 22:27
Released: 22.01.2022, 22:15
Dolní Břežany (Prague-West) – The main prize of Trilobite 2022 was won today by the creators of the drama Don’t Leave Traces, which were co-produced by Poland, France and the Czech Republic. The film tells the story of communist Poland in the 1980s, and the jury praised it, among other things, for its excellently artistically captured depiction of the practices of totalitarian power. For his life’s work, the Czech Film and Television Association FITES awarded the Vladislav Vančura Prize to composer and writer Jan Klusák for his contribution to the sophistication of Czech audiovisual and theater production and its international reputation. This year’s winners were held for the first time at the ELI Beamlines laser center in Dolní Břežany near Prague.
The main prize went to Polish director Jan Pawlov Matuszyński and producers Aneta Hickinbotham and Leszek Bodzak. In the film Don’t Leave Traces, the Polish director was inspired by the death of a university student beaten by the police, whose friend and only eyewitness became the main enemy of the totalitarian state in an instant. “We appreciate this film for a great artistically captured depiction of the practices of totalitarian power. The story of the futile struggle for justice and dignity is inspired by the real events of communist Poland in the 1980s. At the same time, the film is a statement about the arrogance and cynicism of dictatorial regimes across space and time, “she said of the winning film of the jury under the direction of Jan Svačina. The award was accepted by Mikuláš Novotný from the company Background Films, according to him the film will arrive in Czech cinemas this May.
Music composer, conductor and actor Jan Klusák received an award for his life’s work. “According to Ester Krumbachová, Jan Klusák is a living fulfillment of Socrates’ words from Faidra: The soul is what moves on its own, nothing moves,” said the vice-chairman of the jury, Vladimír Just.
The award was also received by the creators of the television series The Defender, in which the school ombudsman deals with cases concerning Czech education. The screenplay was created by Tomáš Feřtek and Matěj Podzimek, directed by Tereza Kopáčová and Tomáš Mašín, produced by Michal Reitler. According to the jury, the ten-part original Czech series “goes beyond domestic and foreign serial clothing”.
Miroslav Bambušek won the award for the screenplay and direction of the feature film People of Blood. Screenwriter and director Adéla Komrzý then took over the award for the film Unit of Intense Life, in which she can communicate with incurable sick patients. David Sís also won the award for directing the documentary Dreams of Stray Cats. It is a portrait of the director’s brother, the world-famous artist Petr Sís.
Michaela Pavlátová won the Trilobit 2022 Award for the artistic component and direction of the animated film My Sun Mad. Brothers Evgueni and Sacha Galperinová collaborated with Czech filmmakers, who were nominated for the Czech Lion in the Best Music category by participating in an internationally acclaimed film. “We consider the fact that we managed to win such musical greats for our film to be a very prestigious affair and, above all, still a small miracle,” said producers Kateřina Černá and Petr Oukropec.
The co-director and editor Adéla Špaljová and reporter Tomáš Etzler received the Power of the Powerless Award (formerly the Václav Havel Award, then the Ferdinand Vaňek Award), which is awarded for the contribution of an audiovisual work to the development of civil society. In the film of contemporary China, the creators describe the lives of people with disabilities and point out that the essence of each system is reflected in its relationship to the most defenseless.
The recipient of the critical Lemon Award was Czech Television for the dramaturgical plan of fictional serial production for 2022, in which, according to the jury, “mindless imitations of foreign crime series” dominate. The jury believes that public service television does not pay for dealers’ money to do what commercial channels provide for their own, Just said. According to him, series like Most or the currently awarded Defender are examples of long-awaited swallows.
Today’s awards ceremony was broadcast live by Czech Television, accompanied in the evening by Světlana Witowská. The jurors chose from 164 audiovisual works that were presented to the public from 1 November 2020 to 30 November last year.