10/04/2017 - After its overwhelming success at the Czech Lions, A Prominent Patient has also bagged a good number of Slovakian national film awards

The second edition of the Slovak Film Week, a week-long round-up of the past year’s domestic cinema, came to an end on Sunday. The inaugural edition combined the showcase with The Sun in a Net, the national awards celebrating domestic cinema, and the situation was no different this year – except that the ceremony seemed more like a celebration of co-productions, as all of the prizes were won by films made in conjunction with the Czech Republic (while one movie was a co-production with the Czech Republic and Poland). 

The Teacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Hřebejk
film profile], nominated in 13 categories, was hailed as Best Film. Directed by Czech filmmaker Jan Hřebejk and written by Czech writer Petr Jarchovský (who won the Best Screenplay Award), the film was shot in Slovakia with a Slovak cast and in the Slovak language. Meanwhile, the joint effort by Slovak and Czech documentarians Robert Kirchhoff and Filip Remunda Steam on the River, revolving around a trio of jazzmen, earned them the Best Documentary Award. The duo of directors behind the portrait of an unlikely serial killer I, Olga Hepnarová [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile] bagged the Best Director Award.

Like their Czech colleagues, Slovakian academics handed the technical trophies to A Prominent Patient [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Julius Ševčík (nominated in 12 categories), which to a large extent repeated its winning streak from the Czech Lions ceremony (read the news). The Best Sound Award was shared by A Prominent Patient and the documentary Richard Müller: Unknown, an intimate portrait of the veteran Slovakian singer-songwriter directed by Miro Remo and also made as a Slovak-Czech co-production.

No animated film was honoured, owing to the low number of submitted works, but the Award for Exceptional Contribution to Slovak Cinema was handed to Rudolf Urc, a key founding personality in the world of Slovak animated film. This year, the organisers added a new category, the Audience Award, as voted for by viewers in an online poll, which saw The Teacher emerge victorious.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film
The Teacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Hřebejk
film profile] - Jan Hřebejk

Best Documentary
Steam on the River - Robert Kirchhoff, Filip Remunda

Best Director
Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda - I, Olga Hepnarová [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile]

Best Screenplay
Petr Jarchovský – The Teacher

Best Cinematography
Martin Štrba – A Prominent Patient [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Editing
Marek Opatrný – A Prominent Patient

Best Sound
Viktor Ekrt, Pavel Rejholec – A Prominent Patient
Lukáš Kasprzyk - Richard Müller: Unknown

Best Music
Michal Novinski – The Teacher

Best Production Design
Milan Býček – A Prominent Patient

Best Costumes
Katarína Štrbová Bieliková – A Prominent Patient

Best Make-up
Lukáš Král – A Prominent Patient

Best Actress
Zuzana Mauréry – The Teacher

Best Supporting Actress
Zuzana Kronerová – The Red Captain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Actor
Karel Roden – A Prominent Patient

Best Supporting Actor
Oldřich Kaiser – A Prominent Patient

Audience Award
The Teacher - Jan Hřebejk

Award for Exceptional Contribution to Slovak Cinema
Rudolf Urc