The presentation of the CFTA Czech Lion film awards is in the spirit of supporting Ukraine
Updates: 05.03.2022 20:50
Released: 05.03.2022, 20:46
Prague – Presentation of the annual film awards of the Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) The Czech Lion is held today in Prague’s Rudolfinum in the spirit of supporting a war-torn Ukraine. The change compared to previous years was already apparent when arriving at the Rudolfinum building decorated with the Ukrainian flag. The staircase lacks a traditional red carpet, and many guests have pinned yellow-blue ribbons or badges to their clothing. The first awarded evenings were Oldřich Kaiser and Antonie Formanová for the supporting role.
“The current events in Ukraine affect us all very much, and logically will be reflected in the Czech Lion awards ceremony. We therefore decided not to hold the social part of the evening and to save the saved money to those who need it most at the moment,” he said. beginning of the evening, the president organizing the CFTA Ivo Mathé. With a live broadcast on Czech Television, viewers can contribute to the People in Need account through donor DMS.
Immediately after the start of the evening, at the invitation of the moderator Jiří Havelka, the spectators gave up standing ovations to those who are fighting against Russian aggression in Ukraine. Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Perebyjnis then spoke, thanking the CFTA for dedicating this year’s ceremony to Ukraine. “The wave of solidarity we are feeling in the Czech Republic is incredible,” he said. He added that some representatives of the film industry in Russia supported the aggression. He therefore asked those present to cut off Czech film relations and exclude its representatives from Czech festivals.
Jan Pergler thanked the Czechs for People in Need for helping Ukraine. “You are not just sending money or tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but you are sending your hearts a huge dose of solidarity and humanity,” he said. He added that to date, people have sent 1.16 billion crowns to the organization’s collection, and today the third fully loaded train with humanitarian aid set out for Ukraine.
Oldřich Kaiser became the first award-winning evening today for his role in the Slovak-Czech tragicomedy Man with Rabbit Ears, which is also nominated for best film. Antonie Formanová won the award for the best female supporting role for her role in the award-winning satirical drama Occupation, which also competes for the main prize.
184 members out of a total of 354 CFTA members voted on the nominations for the 29th Czech Lion Award. They chose from 84 feature, documentary, animated and short films as well as television works, and the sales status of the Czech Lion Awards. Academics have previously nominated the film Zátopek about a famous Czechoslovak athlete in the fight for an Oscar in the category of foreign language films. He was not shortlisted.
The CFTA has already announced the winners of the Czech Lion’s non-statutory awards. Aleš Najbrt, Jakub Spurný and Julie Vrabelová won the award for the best film poster for their design for the film Zátopek. He won the Film Fans and Director David Ondříček Award for the same film. Zátopek was awarded an above-average 81 percent on the Czech-Slovak Film Database website.