Czech film actor, scriptwriter, director, and writer Zdeněk Svěrák ws
awarded the president’s prize at the International Karlovy Vary Film
Festival on Thursday for his lifetime contribution to cinema. The
78-year-old Czech, who won an Oscar in 1996 for the film Kolya in which he
starred and directed, was given a standing ovation at the presentation in
the spa town. Svěrák, whose films often contain a large dose of humour,
said laughter was the main reward for his work.