''Burning Bush'' () is a 2013 three-part miniseries created for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

by Polish director

Agnieszka Holland Agnieszka Holland (; born 28 November 1948) is a Polish film and television director and screenwriter, best known for her cultural and political contributions to Polish cinema. She began her career as an assistant to directors Krzysztof Zanuss ...

. Based on real characters and events, this haunting drama focuses on the personal sacrifice of a Prague history student,

Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...

, who set himself on fire in 1969 in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in the previous year. Dagmar Burešová, a young female lawyer, became part of his legacy by defending Palach's family in a trial against the communist government, a regime which tried to dishonour Palach’s sacrifice, a heroic action for the freedom of Czechoslovakia. The fight for freedom, for moral principles, self-sacrifice, and protest in those desperate times led to the moral unification of a repressed nation, which twenty years later defeated the totalitarian regime. The anniversary of Jan Palach’s death inspired a new generation of students to start protests that led to the eventual fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, part of the eventual destruction of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

. Lawyer Dagmar Burešová, who spent her life representing dissident opposition leaders, became the first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in a free Czechoslovakia. The film is dedicated to

Jan Zajíc Jan Zajíc (died 25 February 1969) was a Czechs, Czech student who killed himself by self-immolation as a political protest. Biography He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) techn ...

Evžen Plocek Evžen Plocek (29 October 1929, Jihlava – 9 April 1969, Jihlava) was a Czech man (reform communist) who committed suicide, at age 39, by self-immolation as a political protest. He is usually named together with Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc whose se ...

Ryszard Siwiec Ryszard Siwiec (; 7 March 1909 – 12 September 1968) was a Polish accountant and former Home Army resistance member who was the first person to die by self-immolation in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Although his ac ...

, and all who sacrificed their lives while fighting for freedom. At the International TV Festival in Monte Carlo, Ivan Trojan was awarded the prize of Golden Nymph for the Best Actor in a mini-series. It has been selected to be screened in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

. The series was later edited into a film. The premiere of the film version was set to be on 12 September 2013.http://www.kinobox.cz/clanek/8188-do-ceskych-kin-miri-horici-ker-v-nove-sestrihane-verzi Czech The film was originally selected as the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

86th Academy Awards The 86th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2013 in film, films of 2013 and took place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5: ...

. However

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

disqualified the film, citing regulations that the film must not have initially appeared on television. The mini-series aired on Czech TV eight months prior to the re-edited version that appeared in cinemas.

Cast

* Tatiana Pauhofová as JUDr. Dagmar Burešová, a lawyer of the Palach family * Jaroslava Pokorná as Libuše Palachová, Jan Palach's mother *Petr Stach as Jiří Palach, Palach's brother *

Ivan Trojan Ivan Trojan (born 30 June 1964) is a Czech people, Czech actor, widely considered to be one of the greatest Czech actors of all time. With four Czech Lion Award for Best Actor in Leading Role, Czech Lions for Best Actor in a Leading Role, he has ...

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Jireš,

Public security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

(police) officer who investigates Palach's death (fictional character) * Igor Bareš as Major Dočekal, secret police

StB State Security (, ), or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that was considered oppositio ...

("state secret security") (fictional character) *

Vojtěch Kotek Vojtěch Kotek (born 8 January 1988 in Prague) is a Czech actor and dubber. Selected filmography Film * ''Snowboarďáci'' (2004) * '' Rafťáci'' (2006) * ''Ro(c)k podvraťáků'' (2006) * ''Burning Bush'' (2013) * '' Vlastníci'' (2019) * '' ...

as Ondřej Trávníček, a student activist (

composite character In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story. It is an example of dramatic license. Examples Film *'' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939): Glinda, Goo ...

) *

Jan Budař Jan Budař (born 31 July 1977) is a Czech actor, director, singer, composer and script writer. Biography Budař was born in Frýdlant near Liberec. He graduated from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno in 2000. He ...

as Radim Bureš, Burešová's husband *Adrian Jastraban as Vladimír Charouz, Burešová's superior *Patrik Děrgel as Pavel Janda *Denny Ratajský as

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Boček, Jireš's workmate *Tomáš Dianiška as Mlíko * Jenovéfa Boková as Vlaďka Charouzová, Charouz's daughter * Ivana Uhlířová as Judge Orlová *Stanislav Zindulka as JUDr. Sládeček, lawyer, colleague of Burešová *Ondřej Malý as JUDr. Knapp, lawyer, colleague of Burešová * Martin Huba as Vilém Nový, a communist official who defames Palach *Míša Procházková as Zuzanka Burešová, Burešová's daughter *Tereza Korejsová as Lucinka Burešová, Burešová's daughter * Alois Švehlík as

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Horyna, high-ranking Public security commander, superior of Jireš and Dočekal *Hana Marie Maroušková as Ilona Palachová, Jiří Palach's wife *

Miroslav Krobot Miroslav Krobot (born 12 November 1951) is a Czech theatre director and actor. He starred in the film '' The Man from London'', which was entered into the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. His daughter Lenka Krobotová is also an actress. Selected f ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Jiřička *Emma Smetana as Hana Čížková *

Taťjana Medvecká Taťjana Medvecká (born 10 November 1953) is a Czech actress. She starred in the film ''Operace Silver A'' under director Jiří Strach Jiří Strach (born 29 September 1973) is a Czech film director and actor. He is considered one of the most ...

MUDr. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

Jana Ziková, a doctor who treats Palach at the hospital *Pavel Cisovský as comrade Hazura

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burning Bush 2010s television miniseries 2013 Czech television series debuts Czech drama films Films directed by Agnieszka Holland Czech Lion Awards winners (films) Films about Soviet repression Czech Film Critics' Awards winners HBO Europe original programming Czech-language HBO original programming Czech films based on actual events Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in popular culture