12/02/2007

A few days before its first screening in the Berlinale’s official competition the news for Jirí Menzel and his box office smash hit I Served the King of England [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] could not have been better.

Menzel’s adaptation of the Bohumil Hrabal novel led the Czech Lion nominations, announced on February 10, with a total of 10, including Best Director and Best Film, making it one of the most nominated films ever in the Czech annual national cinema awards.

The veteran director’s feature was nominated in all of the major categories, as was Jan Hrebejk’s Beauty in Trouble, which received a total of eight nominations. David Ondrícek’s Grandhotel [+see also:
trailer
film profile], set to be shown in the Berlinale’s Panorama section this week, picked up seven nominations.

Menzel’s film has been received with mixed reactions in Prague, both by critics and audiences since its re-release on January 10. While it has dominated the box office industry insiders say the buzz was created because of the director’s previous strong adaptations of Hrabal’s work, including the 1966 Oscar-winning Closely Observed Trains (Ostre sledované vlaky) and 1990’s Golden Bear winner Larks on a String (Skrivánci na niti).

Jirí Vejdelek ’s comedy Holiday Makers, the box office sensation of 2006, was completely overlooked by the Czech Film and Television Academy members who award the Lions. Its single nomination went to Eva Holubova in the Best Supporting Actress category.

In fact, half of the 20 Czech films that premiered in 2006, and which were in the running for the Czech Lions this year, were ignored.

The 13th Czech Lions awards ceremony will take place in Prague’s Lucerna Hall on the evening of March 3.