Leading Czech directors call for emergency meeting over Oscar nomination process

Leading Czech filmmakers Jiří Mádl, Václav Marhoul, Ondřej Trojan and Petr Václav are calling for an emergency meeting of the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA), challenging the process used to select the country's Oscar submission. In a statement shared on social media, the directors urge the ČFTA presidium to cancel the current shortlist — which includes Broken Voices, Caravan, and I’m Not Who I Want to Be Yet — and restart voting under the rules used until last year. They object to the fact that only seven presidium members took part in this year’s first round.

The protest notes that the voting timeline disadvantages films still being finalized but invited to major September festivals, as members cannot view them in their final form. Among the excluded titles is Franz by Agnieszka Holland, selected for San Sebastián and Toronto.

Controversy also surrounds the presidium’s recommendation that members back Broken Voices. ČFTA member Radovan Síbrt objected in an open letter, saying his sister — who spoke publicly about abuse in the Bambini di Praga children’s choir — was unwillingly drawn into the film’s narrative.

Czechia’s Oscar nomination is to be announced on Monday.