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Ahead of the Oscar nominations being announced Jan. 23, where “Waves” is hoping for recognition after being shortlisted for Best International Film, it led the pack this past week at the Czech Lion Awards — Czech Republic’s equivalent of the Academy Awards — with 14 nominations.

“Waves” was mentioned in numerous categories, including best director and screenplay for Jiří Mádl. Actors Vojtěch Vodochodský, Tatiana Pauhofová, Martin Hofmann and Stanislav Majer were nominated in their respective categories.

The film was also nominated in below-the-line crafts, including for cinematography, editing, sound design, music, stage design, costume design and makeup and hairstyling.

The success of “Waves” at the Czech Lion Awards and its shortlist mention for Best International Film at the upcoming Academy Awards comes after much success back home. After its debut at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won the top audience award, the film was released in Czech theaters in August,...

Before he began his career as a writer-director, Jiří Mádl was at journalism school when he first found out about the story of a group of brave Czech journalists who would later become the subject of his third feature Waves.

“As a punishment for not having proper attendance at the seminars, I got this assignment to read a historic book about Czechoslovakian Radio,” Mádl said, discussing his movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International showcase. “I knew that I really wanted to turn this into a screenplay and it’s stayed in my head since 2009.”

Waves, which is the Czech Republic’s official entry into the International Oscar race this year, is set during the 1968 Prague Spring and explores the dramatic events of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia from the point of view of journalists working in the International News Office of Czechoslovak Radio.

Set during a period where rock-and-roll...

Just as the Oscar Best Picture race remains wide open as 2024 comes to an end, there’s a similar sense of excitement mounting about the breadth and range of films competing for Best International Feature Film. The submissions process found 85 of the 89 films presented eligible, but the real work starts now, in terms of whittling those down first to a shortlist of 15 and then to the final five.

Perhaps more so than in recent years, the diversity is eye-popping, ranging from action thrillers and personal dramas to intimate documentaries. The cross-section is well represented at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International showcase, which kicks off today beginning at 9 a.m. Pt.

Click here to launch the livestream.

As ever, this year’s lineup offers a snapshot of film festival highlights, taking us on a whistle-stop tour of the big five — Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto — with titles that made an impact at events in Warsaw,...

A new energy flowed in the Czechoslovakia after Alexander Dubcek became its leader in 1968. The statesman championed reforms that expanded freedom of speech, protection of press rights and economic programs prioritizing working class people without radically disrupting the nation’s communist framework. The Soviet Union loathed the plan and sought to suppress it with force. Their military intervention, in which the government and its Warsaw Pact allies sent in troops to end that period now known as the Prague Spring.

In Waves, the Czech Republic’s submission for the 2025 Oscars, Jirí Mádl crafts a propulsive thriller about a team of journalists doggedly pursuing the truth in the months before the Prague Spring and the days of the Soviet Union’s aggressive occupation. The film is inspired by true events, which Mádl came across while researching how the International News Office of Czechoslovak Radio operated in the ’60s. At the time,...

As the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, there could be no better time to revisit the tumultuous events of 1968 in what was then Czechoslovakia. In August of that year, Russian tanks rolled into Prague – along with the armies of five countries within the Soviet bloc – to crush Czechoslovakia’s new, homegrown version of communism, dubbed by foreign media “socialism with a human face.”

Student demonstrators were murdered, the country’s new leaders deposed. Moscow’s message was clear: There would be no deviation. Until 1989, the country’s neck would stay under the Russian boot.

For those few months of 1968, however, the Prague spring air was filled with hope. Director-writer Jiří Mádl brings this time to compelling life in Waves, the Czech Oscar entry that follows the fervently committed team at Czechoslovak Radio. This hardscrabble bunch of journalists and technicians is right at the coalface of the struggle against censorship.

Historical dramas — in particular those centered on fearless feats of resistance against authoritarian regimes — often seek to be warnings. The oft-quoted Winston Churchill line — “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” — may ring simply too facile. Yet in watching a film like Jiří Mádl’s handsomely mounted period drama “Waves,” one cannot help but see in its story, and in the history it’s retelling, an urgent plea about the pressing need for a free press. But within its thriller-like trappings is also a complicated meditation on how such a demand rests on the shoulders of men and women who are human, and therefore fallible.

“Waves” opens with an unequivocal historical truth: “The Soviet Union keeps Eastern European countries under its control,” a voice informs viewers as images of Joseph Stalin, the U.S.S.R. and the aforementioned countries and peoples (including those of...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

The Jirí Mádl-directed movie Waves, a new take on the time before and after the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact troops, is the Czech Republic’s submission for the best international feature race at the 2025 Oscars.

The film, which had its world premiere at the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) where it won the audience award, was unveiled as the official Czech contender on Tuesday.

“The film revolves around the international news office at Czechoslovak Radio, a place full of talented individuals possessing broad insight, linguistic skills and above all a commitment to honest journalistic work with a focus on the truth,” whose broadcasts played a key role during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, according to a synopsis. “An epic, dynamically shot, rewarding film, which embraces uncommon heroism in the face of an oppressive regime, the strength...

Hattie Morahan, star of Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast and Arrow star David Nykl are to front The Sleepers, a spy drama for HBO Europe.

The pair are joining Tatiana Pauhofová (Burning Bush) in the six-part drama, which was previously known as Oblivious. The series, which is set in 1980s Prague, has started production in the Czech capital with additional filming in London.

It was written by newcomer Ondřej Gabriel, who studied political science at Prague’s Charles University before becoming a playwright, and directed by Ivan Zacharias, the Czech filmmaker behind HBO Europe’s Wasteland.

Pauhofová plays Marie, who fled Communist Czechoslovakia with her political dissident husband Viktor. Now it is 1989, change is in the air and they take advantage of an amnesty to return to their home country. But soon after they arrive they are hit by a car: when Marie wakes her husband has disappeared,...

“Arrow” actor David Nykl will star in “The Sleepers,” HBO Europe’s Czech spy drama, which has just gone into production. Nykl, who plays Anatoly Knyazev in The CW superhero series, will be joined by Hattie Morahan (“Beauty and the Beast”) in the HBO show.

Tatiana Pauhofová, who was in HBO Europe’s Agnieszka Holland series “Burning Bush,” was already announced as a cast member of “The Sleepers,” which was previously known as “Oblivious.”

Shooting is underway in Prague, and additional filming will take place in London. The series is ostensibly set in late-1980s Prague against a backdrop of political unrest. Marie (Pauhofova) and her dissident husband, Viktor, fled Communist Czechoslovakia, but with change in the air, they return home. Viktor then disappears. Czech-Canadian actor Nykl plays a bureaucrat.

“The Sleepers” will bow on HBO Europe in late 2019. Ondrej Gabriel wrote the series. Ivan Zacharias, who directed HBO Europe’s “Wasteland,...

These days, the number of indies premiering on a weekly basis can be both thrilling and intimidating. To help sift through the number of new releases (independent or otherwise), we've created the Weekly Film Guide. Below you'll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for today's fresh offerings.  Happy viewing! Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, June 13th. (Synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.) Burning Bush Director: Agnieszka Holland Cast: Tatiana Pauhofová, Jaroslava Pokorná, Petr Stach, Vojtech Kotek Synopsis: "This epic, long-form docudrama by acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland (made for HBO Europe as a three-part miniseries) chronicles the political, legal, and moral fallout that followed after Czech student protestor Jan Palach set himself on fire in protest against government repression in 1969." Criticwire Grade Average: A (8 reviews) Theatrical Release: New York 22 Jump...

Fighting against oppression requires unshakable conviction and the notion that regardless of what may come, the reason behind ones actions are pure. Few people overcome apathy and indifference in order to put it all on the line for the right cause. This film is about one of those rare individuals. Though extreme, the self-less quality of his actions is undeniable.

On January 16th, 1969 history student Jan Palach set himself of fire as a form of rebellion against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. Even tough the young man survived the event for a few more days before passing away, what he set in motion would become a symbol of resistance for decades to come for the Czech people. Not only did his actions demonstrate unbearable desperation, but complete commitment for what he believed in.

Perhaps what worried the vicious government the most was his announcement via a letter, that if freedom of expression was not reestablished, another student or “torch” will repeat his deed, and then another, and another until their demands were granted. Acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland’s ambitious film “Burning Bush” aims to honor Palach and others who sacrifice their lives, as well as to expose the corrosive nature of the malevolent regime.

During its extensive running time of almost four hours - it was originally ambitioned as a mini series - this historical drama analyses the ramifications of the inciting incident from diverse, often conflicting, vantage points. The guiding storyline that connects the diverse sources is the investigation led by Dagmar Burešová (Tatiana Pauhofová), a feisty female lawyer who is determined to uphold the patriotic act carried out by the young man. In the first segment, the film focuses on Palach’s family and the cover-up of the student’s true intentions by the communist government officials - who act on behalf of the occupying Soviet rule.

Their efforts go as far as to create a fake letter in which Palach presumably attempts to persuade others not to go through with their promise. In spite of this, Palach is immortalized as a hero by his supporters and deemed as an ideological threat by the oppressors. Burešová is well aware of the fraudulent and manipulative tactics employed to submit those who speak up. Other students soon begin to mobilize, while the lead official investigator tries to find the names of the prospective “torches” in order to stop them.

A few months after, controversy revolving the case returns when a higher up party official Vilém Nový (Martin Huba) publicly claims Jan Palach didn’t mean to kill himself but hat Western troublemakers tricked him into doing so by replacing harmless so-called “cold fire” chemicals with gasoline. Such statement drives Jan’s tortured mother to call for a lawsuit, and she wants Burešová to represent her.

Making use of the time, Holland’s appropriately develops each of the numerous characters providing insight into their motivations for betraying, lying, or remaining neutral in the face of life threatening accusations. Mothers, husbands, and even those benefited by impunity eventually must question their role in the corrupted system. In the meantime, the omnipotent government poisons its citizens with rampant fear to protect their interest and maintain order at the expense of legality.

As whole, “Burning Bush” is a riveting and thought provoking epic cinematic accomplishment that mixes a courtroom mystery with the historical accounts of the aftermath of the incident. Visually, Holland employs archive footage to which she seamlessly incorporates her fictional reenactments. Her ensemble cast, with Pauhofová standing out, understands they are playing people who were coerced into being part of a structure that allows for little discussion. With their lives on the line, and as the lawyer's partner cleverly mentions, "survival instinct" tends to overrule morality. Therefore, it is difficult to judge any of the characters based on how they react to the circumstances, clear-cut logic couldn't exist in a country were "smuggling" Rock & Roll records was considered a crime. With Holland's expert direction and HBO's well-known cinematic caliber, the film captures the intrigue and tension that prevailed in the gloomy atmosphere of the turbulent period. A time in which for those willing to perpetrate such terrifying demonstration, self-immolation to ignite resistance became the only viable path. Nevertheless, an underscoring optimism manages to keep those looking for justice going.

Just as the Biblical mythology behind the flame that can’t be extinguished, the burning bush that Palach became served as hopeful reminder that people do have power within them to induce change. Holland’s film is a ravishing adaptation of such powerful ideas.

"Burning Bush" opens theatrically today June 11th, at the Film Forum in New York City...

Time to Burn: Holland’s Magnificent Mini-Series Event Well Worthy of Big Screen Treatment

Realized as a three part mini-series for television, Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s latest enterprise, Burning Bush, revisits a late 60’s historical moment in Czech history, when the country was occupied by Soviet forces. Holland has a broad wealth of war time period pieces under her belt, and her most championed titles generally deal specifically with the Holocaust, such as the brilliant Angry Harvest (1985), Europa Europa (1990), and even most recently, In Darkness (2011). While this latest endeavor has premiered at film festivals and will receive a limited run in New York on the big screen, Holland specifically formatted this richly observed narrative for television. Obviously, it’s an extensive format that inspired Holland, for she directed an American mini-series revamp of Rosemary’s Baby not long afterwards (and not to mention several episode credits of popular Western...