Winter Flies

Thursday, 13th September, 2018

The Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA), which annually presents the Czech Lion awards, recommended the film Winter Flies to be nominated for the Oscar in the category of the Best Foreign Language Film. The film was directed by Olmo Omerzu and produced by Jiří Konečný. The academics were choosing from 21 Czech feature films and documentary features that had been nominated by the producers of the films themselves. The film Winter Flies will get a chance to represent the Czech cinematography at the already 91^st awards of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will take place on 24^th February 2019 in Los Angeles.

The voting, in which the academics have chosen the film representing the Czech cinematography in the competition for the Oscars, took place from 1^st to 12^th September 2018. Behind the film Winter Flies, there were also the films Domestique, Jan Palach, Toman or The Smiles of Sad Men among the highly valued films.

The film Winter Flies has been directed by the recognized director Olmo Omerzu. It is a road movie about friendship, adventure and great freedom. The story is about two boys who are not fifteen yet and they travel across the whole republic in a stolen car. The aim of their running away is the feeling of being free and a desire to experience something special. The film got the award for Best Director in the Official Selection - Competition at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary.

Olmo Omerzu was born in the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. When he was only thirteen years old he shot his first short film called Almir (1998). In 2004 he decided to move to the Czech Republic and study here. He graduated from Film Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and in 2012 he made his debut film called A Night Too Young, for this film he was recognized as the Surprise of the Year at the Awards of Czech Film Critics’ Awards.

He has also made the feature movie Family Film (2015). This film was awarded the prize for art contribution at film festival in Tokyo, two awards of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards, the Golden Kingfisher and a number of other awards. It also received nominations for the Czech Lion awards in three categories including the award for the best director.

The awards of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are considered to be the most prestigious awards in the area of film. The nominations for the Oscars will be announced on 22^nd January 2019 and the ceremony will take place on 24^th February 2019 in Los Angeles.