Irglova and Hansard take Oscar for best song

The Czech musician Markéta Irglová and her Irish partner Glen Hansard have won an Academy Award for best original song for Falling Slowly from the low-budget film Once, in which both starred. There was loud cheering at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, when Irglová, collecting the award, told the audience that the song’s success was “proof that no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible”. Hers was not the only Czech success at the 80th Oscars ceremony: The Counterfeiters, based on a book by 90-year-old Prague resident Adolf Burger, took the award for best foreign language film.