‘Waves’ by Jiří Mádl is the Czech Republic’s Nominee for the 2025 Oscars

The Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) has selected its Oscar nominee for this year, a choice that surprised no one.

The CFTA has chosen “Waves,” a film directed and written by Jiří Mádl, to represent the Czech Republic at the 97th Academy Awards.

This historical drama revisits the turbulent year of 1968 when Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia under the guise of “brotherly assistance.”

“Waves” is inspired by the true story of a group of journalists from the International Life Department of Czechoslovak Radio who risked everything to provide independent news coverage during those critical days. The film had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and has already made a significant impact on the Czech film scene.

It hit Czech cinemas on August 15.

The selection process for the Oscar nominee took place from August 30 to September 8, with CFTA members choosing from 13 Czech feature films submitted by their producers. Following “Waves” in the voting were Viktor Tauš’s “Amerikánka,” which has not yet been released in cinemas, and Adam Martinec’s “Mord” (in alphabetical order).

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025. The Academy will announce the shortlist of 15 films in the International Feature Film category on December 17, 2024, with the final nominations set to be revealed on January 17, 2025.

Czech Films and the Oscar Journey

To date, only three films from Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have won the coveted Oscar for Best International Feature Film: “The Shop on Main Street” (1965) by Jan Kadár and Elmar Klos, “Closely Watched Trains” (1967) by Jiří Menzel, and “Kolya” (1996) by Jan Svěrák. Six other Czech films have been nominated for the award over the years.

More recently, Václav Marhoul’s “The Painted Bird” made it to the Oscar shortlist in 2019, followed by Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan” in 2021.

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