The guest list at event organized by Vachler Art (http://www.vac.cz/) was as usual a who's who of Czech film but the undoubted star of the evening was former president Vaclav Havel who came on stage when Miroslav Janek's and Pavel Koutecky's Citizen Havel was awarded the prize for best documentary. The doc is a major achievement that follows the life of the playwright and former president over 15 years of his life.
It was a strong year for Czech films and prizes were divided between top contenders Karamazov, Bohan Slama's Country Teacher and Vaclav Marhoul's WWI drama Tobruk. Juraj Jakuvisko's Bathory which topped the Czech box office in 2008 received a special award as the most popular film for Czech audiences. The film with nearly one million admissions pulled in nearly as many admissions as the combined admissions of all other Czech films released that year.
Winners: Czech Lions 2008
Best Film
The Karamazovs
(Produced by Prvni verejnopravni www.cestmir.cz/Czech Republic and Warsaw Pact Film Production/Poland and Czech Television www.ceskatelevize.cz)
Best Director
Petr Zelenka: Karamazovs
Best Script
Bohdan Slama: Country Teacher (Produced by Negativ www.negativ.cz)
Best Cinematography
Vladimir Smutny: Tobruk (Produced by Silver Screen www.silverscreen.cz)
Music
Richard Horowitz, Sussan Deyhim: Tobruk
Editing
Guard 47: Jan Mattlach (Produced by Czech Television)
Sound
Pavel Rejholec, Jakuv Cech: Tobruk
Best Documentary
Pavel Koutecky, Miroslav Janek: Citizen Havel
Best Costumes and Artistic Conception
Jarka Pecharova: Bathory (Produced by Jakubisko Film www.jakubiskofilm.com)
Best Actress
Zuzana Bydzovska: Country Teacher
Best Supporting Actress
Lenka Termerova:Night Owls (Produced by Negativ)
Best Actor
Karel Roden: Guard 47
Best Supporting Actor
Vladimir Dlouhy: Guard 47
Most Popular Czech Film: Bathory