Director of the State Cinematography Fund Helena Bezděk Fraňková.
Prague – According to the director of the State Cinematography Fund, Helena Bezděk Fraňková, the nomination of four Czech filmmakers for the prestigious Oscars is a signal of the quality of the work of Czech filmmakers for foreign film productions. According to her, the success of Czech filmmakers shows producers from all over the world that when they come to film in the Czech Republic, they can expect first-class technical and creative services in the country.
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“It is a signal to all foreign productions, platforms, co-producers and studios that Czech creatives and technical staff can be in leading positions in practically all production departments,” the fund said in a press release. Four Czech filmmakers are competing for the American Oscars this year – Linda Eisenhamerová in the mask category, Viktor Prášil in the sound category, Kamil Jafar for special effects and Viktor Müller for visual effects. Whether one of the Czechs will take home the prize will be decided on March 12 in Los Angeles.
The nominees met at the beginning of 2021 in a Czech-German crew assembled by producer Pavel Müller from the Sirena Film production company and under the direction of Edward Berger, who filmed the first German adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's anti-war novel Calm on the Western Front in the Czech Republic from March to May 2021. .
“The nominations of Czech filmmakers are truly deserved, from our point of view it is a success confirming the golden hands of Czech filmmakers, which we respect and try to do everything to ensure that foreign filmmakers return to us,” said the head of the Czech Film Commission, Pavlína Žipková, who will also attend the Oscar ceremony. “The German production of this film in our country spent a total of 430 million crowns not only on film professions, but also on a whole range of non-film professions and services,” Žipková emphasized the economic impact of the operation of foreign crews on the Czech territory.
The State Cinematography Fund reminded that the Czechs already gained a good reputation in Hollywood during silent films. “In the 1930s, more than a dozen Czech painters worked in the trick departments of 20th Century Fox. Ferdinand Sršeň (Fred Sersen) and Emil Kosa Jr. received a number of nominations and even three Oscars in the 1940s and 1960s. And golden Czech hands they also created such iconic movie moments as the final scene of Planet of the Apes, when Charlton Heston discovers the ruins of the Statue of Liberty, or all the interiors and exteriors of ancient Egypt in the movie Cleopatra. We believe that the present generation of our creators will also receive the award,” said Jaroslav Olša junior , historian and Czech Consul General in Los Angeles.
The film Peace on the Western Front has already won seven awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – BAFTA, including the sound award for Viktor Prášil, the award for best film, best foreign language film, direction, adapted screenplay, music and camera. Kamil Jafar and Viktor Müller for special visual effects were among the 14 nominations.
The Oscar ceremony, awarded annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will take place on the night of March 12-13. ABC television will broadcast the event live from Hollywood's Dolby Theater to more than 200 countries.
