It has been awarded since 1993 in the following categories:
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Best Film
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Best Direction
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Best Screenplay
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Best Cinematography
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Best Music
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Best Film Editing
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Best Sound
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Best Artwork
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Best Actress in a Leading Role and in a Supporting Role
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Best Actor in a Leading Role and in a Supporting Role
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Long-Term Artistic Contribution to Czech Film
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Filmgoers’ Best Film
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Best Documentary
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Best Foreign Film
Films that had a premiee in the previous year are evaluated. The individual prizes are decided on by a multi-member jury of the Czech Film and Television Academy, which mainly consists of film-makers, critics and actors.
The prize-awarding evening ceremony, which is always held at the turn of February and March, follows the nomination evening at the turn of January and February. At this ceremony, films that are nominated in the above-listed Český lev categories are announced.
The first film that won Český lev was the film directed by Jan Hřebejk called Šakalí léta (1993). It is a Czech musical comedy set in Prague of 1959. One of the most significant Czech films of the history of Český lev is certainly
Kolja (1996) directed by Jan Svěrák. It won six Český lev categories, and abroad it was awarded a prestigious Oscar and Golden Globe as the best foreign language film.
The other awarded films include, for instance, Jan Hřebejk’s film Musíme si pomáhat (2000), which won five Český lev categories and was nominated for an Oscar as the best foreign film, and Jiří Menzel’s film Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (2006), based upon the novel of the same title written by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal.
The following films and actors were awarded this year:
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Best Film: Poupata (Viktor Schwarcz)
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Best Direction: Poupata (Zdeněk Jiráský)
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Best Screenplay: Odcházení (Václav Havel)
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Best Camera: Poupata (Vladimír Smutný)
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Best Actress in a Leading Role: Nevinnost (Anna Geislerová)
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Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Poupata (Vladimír Javorský)
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Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Dům (Taťjána Medvecká)
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Best Actor in a Leading Role: Nevinnost (Hynek Čermák)
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Best Documentary : Pod sluncem tma (Martin Mareček )
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Best Music: Alois Nebel (Ondřej Ježek, Petr Kružík)
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Best Film Editing: Odcházení (Jiří Brožek)
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Best Artwork: Alois Nebel (Henrich Boráros, Noro Držiak, Jaromír Švejdík)
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Best Sound: Alois Nebel (Viktor Ekrt, Ondřej Ježek)
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Audience Award: Muži v naději
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Lifelong Artistic Contribution to Czech Cinematography: Josef Somr