Czech film about Roma wins Czech Film Critics Award, as does Romani actress

The winner of the Czech Film Critics Award this year is Petr Václav’s "The Way Out" (Cesta ven). The film has garnered three awards for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay.

Klaudia Dudová, who is not professionally trained, won the award for Best Performance by an Actress for her portrayal of the main role in "The Way Out", a dramatic story about seeking security anew in life. The awards were handed out today in Prague’s Archa Theater.

When receiving his awards for direction and screenplay, Václav said he believes the media image of the Romani community in the Czech Republic is a distorted one. "In recent years, during all of those racist marches against the Roma here, the whole situation of our having pushed them into ghettos, we have been incapable of saying we disagree with it all. For that reason I would like to thank the Romani people who accepted me among them. I wandered around the ghettos by myself, day and night, and I never experienced any conflict – everyone was curious to know what my beliefs were, how I lived, and they were in favor of my creating an authentic depiction of their lives. Most of the things they see about Romani people in the media they cannot identify with," he said. 

"After the terrorist attacks in Paris, I realized how important it is that culture serve the creation of an open and tolerant society, because that is the only possible response to what is happening in the world today. If we are going to create people on the outskirts of our society who have no money and no work, if creeping discrimination, prejudice and racism are going to operate here, then that will also create many frustrated people who will be ultimately capable of believing anyone trying to sell them the key to life and capable of brutally turning against us. The role of culture and filmmakers in this is enormous, filmmakers today must talk about these things and help change the climate in society," the award-winning director said. 

The award for best documentary film was given to director Martin Dušek and producer Kamila Zlatušková for their original story about those who customize cars, "Into the Clouds We Gaze" (K oblakům vzhlížíme). Last October it also won at the International Festival of Documentary Film in Jihlava.

Related article

Czech film critics nominate film about Roma for prize

ČTKZdeněk Ryšavý

Martin Finger won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in the black comedy "The Beautiful" (Krásno), the debut film of director Ondřej Sokol. The award for cinematography was given to both Martin Žiaran for his film "Hany" and to Jaromír Kačer for his film "Places" (Místa), each of which got the same number of votes.

The RWE Award for Discovery of the Year was given to Jiří Mádl for his debut as a director and screenwriter for the film "To See the Sea" (Pojedeme k moři). This is the fifth time the Czech Film Critics Awards have been held.  

Václav Moravec moderated the live broadcast of the awards on Czech Television’s ČT2. The second round of voting involved 51 journalists, 30 dramatic films and 23 feature-length documentaries that premiered in 2014 and qualified for participation.

"The Way Out" received the highest number of nominations (six). "To See the Sea" was nominated in five categories, none of which it won; "Fair Play" received four nominations but walked away empty-handed, as did the films "Nowhere in Moravia" (Díra u Hanušovic), "Everyday Angels" (Andělé všedního dne), "The Storyteller" (Pohádkář), and "We2" (My2), each of which were nominated once.

The "competing" film award given by the Czech Film and Television Academy, the Czech Lion ("Český lev"), will be handed out on 21 February. Those slated to win are "Fair Play" "Nowhere in Moravia", "The Way Out", "Three Brothers" and "To See the Sea", all of which have been nominated for best film, direction and screenplay.