An international jury led by Czech scriptwriter Milena Jelinek awarded the Golden Kingfisher to Maria Prochazkova’s film Who’s Afraid Of The Wolf atthe 22nd Finale festival of Czech film in Plzen.

Who’s Afraid Of The Wolf screened in the Generation Kplus at this year’s Berlinale. Film Europe is handling international sales.

Filip Renc’s historical drama Guard No. 47 picked up two prizes: the Pilsner Urquell Audience Award for Best Film and the Best Performance Award for actor Karel Roden.

Hip-hop documentary RAPublic was named Best Documentary. The festival also recognized British film historian Peter Hames for his contribution to the promotion of Czech cinema abroad.

Meanwhile, Czech filmmakers pitched new projects to industry professionals at the Czech Film Center’s annual panel of works in progress. Following an increase in state funding for film production in recent years, more Czech producers are finding it possible to attract foreign partners, and eight of the 20 projects in the panel involve European partners.

Petr Zelenka (The Karamazovs) introduced his project F 5.6, about a filmmaker’s moral transformation, and director Lenka Kny screened a trailer for her film You Cannot Escape Your Shadows, with cinematography by Divis Marek, known for his work with Bohdan Slama (Something Like Happiness, A Country Teacher).

Among other projects presented at the panel were:

  • The Whispering Game, about a group of children who save the life of a French pilot during the Second World War; produced by FilmBrigade (Czech Republic) and Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv (Germany), directed by Petr Nikolaev.
  • Regards To Rokycany, a Holocaust story from British screenwriter Carey Sophia Hamblett; produced by Epoch Film (UK) and Alfedus (Czech Republic), directed by Marek Dobes.
  • It’s Just An Old Cottage, a family drama produced by Verbascum (Czech Republic) and Grand Pictures (Ireland), directed by Slobodanka Radun.
  • War With The Newts, an adaptation of Karel Capek’s satirical science-fiction novel; produced by Tomas Krejci (Czech Republic) and Punk Film (Czech Republic), directed by Polish Oscar laureate Agniezska Holland.
  • Foxes , a drama about Slovak emigres in Dublins; produced by Samson Films (Ireland), Cineart TV Prague (Czech Republic), and Miras (Slovakia), directed by Mira Fornayova.