The 10 best Czech Film Directors
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- Director
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- Actor
Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in Mittelbau-Dora, a sub camp of Buchenwald, and his mother died in Auschwitz, at which Milos became an orphan very early on. He studied screen-writing at the Prague Film Academy (F.A.M.U.). In his Czechoslovakian films, Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), and The Firemen's Ball (1967), he created his own style of comedy. During the invasion of his country by the troops of the Warsaw pact in the summer of 1968, to stop the Prague spring, he left Europe for the United States. In spite of difficulties, he filmed Taking Off (1971) there and achieved his fame later with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) adapted from the novel of Ken Kesey, which won five Oscars, including one for best direction. Other important films of Milos Forman were the musical Hair (1979) and his biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus (1984), which won eight Oscars.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ján Kadár was born on 1 April 1918 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a director and writer, known for The Shop on Main Street (1965), Smrt si ríká Engelchen (1963) and Obzalovaný (1964). He died on 1 June 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Jirí Menzel was born on 23 February 1938 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor and director, known for Closely Watched Trains (1966), I Served the King of England (2006) and Larks on a String (1969). He was married to Olga Menzelová-Kelymanová. He died on 5 September 2020 in Prague, Czech Republic.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Jan Sverak spent his studies at FAMU Documentary Department and graduated in 1988. Sverak's talent first attracted attention through his short films Space Odyssey II. and Oil Gobblers above all - documentary fiction dealing with "newly discovered species" received the American Academy's Student Oscar (1988).
Director's first feature film Elementary School (1991), a heart-warming period film set in post-war Czechoslovakia, engaged American Academy's attention again and brought a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It was Kolya (1997) to confirm international success of Sverak's films. Story of a five year old Russian boy humanizing a philandering middle-aged Czech cellist won both Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Also other Jan's films reached wide audience: road movie Ride (1994), action fantasy Accumulator 1 (1994) or Dark Blue World (2001) - drama about the injustice done to Czechoslovak pilots who fought for RAF and were made to suffer by the communist regime back home. Papa (2004)is a documentary dedicated to Jan's father Zdenek Sverak, screenplay writer and actor popular with Czech audience. Above all Zdenek Sverak is an author of few Jan's films screenplays and casted main characters in Kolya, Elementary School and Empties (2007).
Year 2007 was a busy year for Sverak - apart from comedy Empties he produced Alice Nelliss's movie Little Girle Blue. Kooky (2010), featuring both live action and puppetry, is an enjoyable adventure for both kids and adults. Sverak's latest film, fairy tale Three Brothers (2014) presents classic marvels of Central Europe within musical background and reached record-breaking audience in 2014 Czech box office.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Jan Hrebejk was born on 27 June 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is a director and writer, known for Divided We Fall (2000), Beauty in Trouble (2006) and Cosy Dens (1999).- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Ondrej Trojan was born on 31 December 1959 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is a producer and actor, known for Toman (2018), Zelary (2003) and Identity Card (2010). He is married to Barbara Trojanová.- Director
- Writer
- Actress
Vera Chytilová was born on February 2, 1929, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She studied philosophy and architecture in Brno for two years, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a fashion model, a photo re-toucher, then worked as a clapper girl for Barrandov Film Studios in Prague. There she continued as a writer, actress, and assistant director.
She was denied a scholarship, or even a recommendation from Barrandov, but she took the admissions tests at FAMU and was accepted. From 1957-1962 she studied film directing under Otakar Vávra, who also taught Jirí Menzel, Milos Forman, Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer. In 1962 she graduated as director from Film Academy (FAMU) in Prague. Her graduation film 'Strop' (Ceiling 1962) and the following film 'Pytel blech' (A Bagful of Fleas 1963) were "staged" improvisations with non-actors. In 1966 Chytilova and her husband, 'Jaroslav Kucera', made a witty surrealist comedy Daisies (1966), which was immediately banned, but then was released in 1967, and won the Grand Prix at the Bergamo Film Festival. She remained in Czechoslovakia after the events of 1968, when her colleagues Milos Forman, Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer emigrated. Her films were often "shelved" for reasons of political censorship. For six years Chytilova was banned from making films. In 1976 she wrote a letter of complaint to President Gustav Husak, describing her artistic position. After some behind-the-scenes influence by her supporters, Chytilova was allowed to make a low-budget Hra o jablko (1977), which won a Silver Hugo at Chicago Film Festival.
Chytilova belongs among the foremost directors of the 1960's Czech New Wave, which was influenced by both the French New Wave and Italian Neo-Realism. Her films were acclaimed for visual experimentation and for bold unmasking of the moral problems of contemporary society. Her art belongs to what Sergei Eisenstein described as "intellectual cinema", that embraces the mix of "avant-garde", "cinema verite", "formalism", "feminism", or "happening" and, with a good deal of humor, it spreads beyond definitions. Chytilova's films often present a multi-layered plethora of visual associations that encourages the viewer to make active interpretations. She survived through the political turbulences in Czechoslovakia and has been a highly original and uncompromising filmmaker.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Oldrich Lipský was born on 4 July 1924 in Pelhrimov, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a writer and director, known for The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981), Lemonade Joe (1964) and I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen (1970). He died on 19 October 1986 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bohdan Sláma was born in Opava, a city in the Northern Czech Republic (then Czechcoslovakia) on 29 May 1967. Thirty years later, in 1997, Sláma graduated from the FAMU, Prague's Faculty of Cinema. During his student years, he made a short, "Zahradka Raj" (Garden of Paradise, 1994) which was shown at the Premiers Plans d'Angers Film Festival, in the School Film Section. His first feature, Divoké vcely (2001) (Wild Bees), the portrait of a Moravian village and its quirky inhabitants, was distinguished by no fewer than ten international prizes. Four years later, the sensitive chronicle of a group of friends in a drab industrial town, made Stestí (2005) another prizewinner. Beautiful too was The Country Teacher (2008), the story of a teacher from Prague who decides to teach in the country. A name to remember, Bohdan Sláma is one of the major talents of the Czech cinema.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Václav Marhoul was born on 30 January 1960 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor and producer, known for The Painted Bird (2019), Tobruk (2008) and Smart Philip (2003).