Film Masaryk wins big at the 24th Czech Lion Awards

The film Masaryk by director Julius Ševčík won big at the Czech Lions on Saturday, taking 12 awards including Best Picture. The win surpassed the previous record of 11 wins set by Burning Bush (dir. Agnieszka Holland) in 2014. Actor Karel Roden, who portrayed the Czech diplomat Jan Masaryk, won Best Actor, while the award for Best Actress went to Michalina Olszanská for her role in I, Olga Hepnarova, (the story of a real-life murderer in communist Czechoslovakia).

The biggest disappointment of the night was for WWII drama Anthropoid, about the assassination of Nazi reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich: the film had been nominated in nine categories but came away empty-handed in all the major awards. It did take a consolation prize, winning in the Film Fan category. Meanwhile, Czech Lions for outstanding contribution to Czech cinematography went to Eva Zaoralová and JiřÍ Bartoška for their peerless organization and running of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.