10/04/2006

Bohdan Slama’s Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile] and Karel Janak’s Rafters have confirmed their status as Czech Republic’s most talked about films of the last six months, during the awards ceremony of the 19th Finale Plzen, the festival of Czech films, which ended Sunday in the city of Pilsen, West Bohemia.

Slama’s film was unanimously awarded the festival’s top prize, the Golden Kingfisher for Best Film, while Janak’s teenage comedy, which is set to break all national film records with more than half a million admissions six weeks into its theatre release, picked up the Audience Award.

Over 220 films were screened in 15 sections, ranging from documentaries and animated films to special screenings to the latest in Czech production, during the festival’s week-long programme. Finale Plzen praises itself as the only occasion that showcases the whole of Czech production of the preceding year.

Statutory Awards (Golden Kingfisher):

Best Feature Film:
Something Like Happinessby Bohdan Sláma

Best Documentary under 30 minutes:
Kids From Hartmanice (Deti z Hartmanic ) by Lucie Králová

Best Documentary over 30 minutes:
The Legend of the Bird’s Egg (Legenda o ptacim vejci ) by Zdenek Novotný Brickovský

Non-statutory awards

Special award from the International feature films jury:
Lunacy (Sileni) by Jan Svankmajer

Students jury award:
Lunacy (Sileni) by Jan Svankmajer

Mlada Fronta DNES Award for Best Performance:
Vojtech Kotek for his role in the Rafters

Plzenský Prazdroj Audience Award for most popular film:
Rafters by Karel Janák