"Burning Bush" in Oscar® Running

Members of the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) selected Burning Bush by Agnieszka Holland to represent the Czech Republic in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

Agnieszka Holland’s Film Selected Among 35 Titles

As ČFTA spokeswoman Martina Rekova told the CTK agency, the decision of the Academy members was made by a majority vote. Burning Bush was selected among 35 latest Czech film productions. “[However] the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still needs to confirm whether the film complies with competition regulations,” said Rekova.

The Story of Jan Palach

Burning Bush is the abridged theatrical cut of a three-part television mini-series under the same title, which focuses on the suicide of Jan Palach, a university student who set himself on fire in downtown Prague in early 1969 to protest against the invasion of Warsaw Pact armed forces on Czechoslovakia. Burning Bush was released theatrically in the Czech Republic on September 12. In the event that Burning Bush does not comply with Academy Awards regulations, it will be replaced as the Czech Republic’s candidate in the Best Foreign Language Film category by Skirt Chasers, a film by acclaimed Czech director Jirí Menzel, which was the runner-up in the ČFTA voting.

“A Strong Personal Bond with Czech History”

“For the first time in history, the Oscar® contender from the Czech Republic is a film directed by a filmmaker who is not of Czech nationality. Polish director Agnieszka Holland, three-time Oscar-nominee, has a strong personal bond with this key event in Czech history, because during the time of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops she was a student at the Prague-based FAMU [film school],” said Rekova.

Source: www.pap.pl.

Translated by Karolina Kołtun