The only Czech campaign to win an award at this year’s Cannes Lions festival was the promotional campaign for the documentary film Velký vlastenecký výlet. The project, created by the Fun House creative workshop, the Leo Prague agency and other teams from the Publicis Groupe, won a Silver Lion.
The Czech Republic took home a Silver Lion from this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the campaign for the documentary film Velký vlastenecký výlet, directed by Robin Kvapil, which was the only Czech project to win an award at this year’s prestigious competition.
The documentary road movie was symbolically released in cinemas on 21 August 2025. The film follows a trio of people with pro-Russian views, who were selected through an open call aimed at individuals with ‘alternative views’ on the war in Ukraine. The filmmakers then took them directly to war-torn areas, including Kharkiv, the Donbas and Izium, to confront their beliefs with the reality of the conflict.
The resulting film has become not only a documentary about the war, but also an exploration of how the disinformation landscape operates and the mechanisms of hybrid warfare. It showed that even direct experience of war crimes, rocket attacks or mass graves does not necessarily change deeply ingrained attitudes and ways of thinking.
The sensitivity and polarising nature of the subject led the filmmakers to base the film’s marketing on an unconventional concept. The newly established creative agency Fun House devised a strategy that went beyond the scope of conventional film promotion and incorporated elements of a social experiment.
The campaign was implemented by the agency Leo Prague. It created a comprehensive communication platform encompassing the film’s visual identity, website, social media content, digital activations and accompanying projects, including the ‘Grand Patriotic Committee’ initiative. The campaign also featured special digital formats and content that employed principles reminiscent of the way disinformation narratives are spread.
The campaign was built ona provocativereflection of pro-Russian propaganda and open communication. Its aim was not only to reach film audiences but also to draw the wider public – who do not normally engage with the topic of hybrid threats – into the discussion. The campaign sparked debates on social media and in the press, culminating in a series of public screenings and discussions. These included a preview screening in the Wallenstein Gardens, held under the patronage of President Petr Pavel.
The international jury at Cannes Lions particularly commended the courage to tackle a socially controversial topic and the ability to transform a documentary film into a communication platform that exposed the mechanisms of disinformation campaigns in real time.
The success at Cannes followed on from previous awards won in the Czech Republic. This year, the campaign also triumphed at the Art Directors Club Czech Republic competition, where it won silver in the Campaign: Tactical category and bronze in the PR & Earned Media category. The film itself has also enjoyed success at film awards and festivals, including nominations for the Czech Lion, the Czech Film Critics’ Award and the Czech Cinematographers’ Association Award.
Source: mediaguru.cz
