Otakar Vávra
Directing
Born 1911-02-28
Died 2011-09-15
Hradec Králové, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]
87 credits
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Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and pedagogue.
Vávra attended universities in Brno and Prague, where he studied architecture. During 1929–30, while still a student, he participated in the making of a handful of documentaries and wrote movie scripts. In 1931, he produced the experimental film Světlo proniká tmou. The first movie he directed was 1937's Panenství.
His 1938 film The Merry Wives was praised in Variety for "first-rate direction, a salty yarn and elaborate production effort", even though it had undergone certain cuts because it was considered too "ribald" by American censors.
Vávra was a member of the Communist Party from 1945 to 1989. After the Communists seized power in 1948, Vávra adapted quickly to the new political climate and produced films praising the current regime and supporting the new, official interpretation of the past.
In the 1950s he filmed the "Hussite Trilogy", one of his most famous works, consisting of Jan Hus (1954), Jan Žižka (1955) and Against All (1957).[2]
In the 1960s, Vávra made his most celebrated films Zlatá reneta (1965), Romance for Bugle (1966) and Witchhammer (1969). Romance for Bugle was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Special Silver Prize.
In the 1970s Vávra produced his "War Trilogy" consisting of semi-documentary movies Dny zrady, Sokolovo and Osvobození Prahy, all being heavily influenced by communist propaganda. The film Dny zrady (Days of Betrayal, 1973) was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Diploma. In 1979 he was a member of the jury at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival.
Since the 1950s Vávra taught film direction at Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Among his students were several directors of the "Czech New Wave".
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Filmography
— top 60 of 87
Directing
39 credits
GENUS
Happy Journey
The Merry Wives
History of Philosophy
May Fairy Tale
Silent Barricade
Vlast vítá
Humoreska
Listopad
Putování Jana Amose
Sokolovo
Witchhammer
Romance for Bugle
Dark Sun
Days of Betrayal
The Masked Lover
Against All
The Light Penetrates the Dark
Oldrich and Bozena
Jan Žižka
Moje Praha
Policejní hodina
Komediant
Cesta k barikádám
The Liberation of Prague
Rozina the Love Child
The Night Guest
Jan Hus
We Live in Prague
Přijdu hned
Virginity
Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle
Krakatit
August Sunday
The Adventurous Bachelor
Láska
The Girl in Blue
A Story of Love and Honor
The Magic House
Writing
49 credits
GENUS
Happy Journey
The Merry Wives
History of Philosophy
May Fairy Tale
Silent Barricade
Vlast vítá
Humoreska
A Little Street in Paradise
Listopad
Putování Jana Amose
Sokolovo
Witchhammer
Svítání
Romance for Bugle
Dark Sun
Days of Betrayal
Year of the Revolution 1848
The Masked Lover
Against All
The Light Penetrates the Dark
Morality Above All Else
Oldrich and Bozena
Jan Žižka
Ze světa lesních samot
Moje Praha
Policejní hodina
Komediant
Cesta k barikádám
Vdavky Nanynky Kulichovy
The Liberation of Prague
Rozina the Love Child
The Night Guest
Jan Hus
We Live in Prague
Přijdu hned
Hlídač č. 47
Virginity
Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle
Krakatit
August Sunday
Three Men in the Snow
The Adventurous Bachelor
Láska
The Girl in Blue
A Story of Love and Honor
The Eleventh Commandment
Bezdětná
The Magic House
Acting
17 credits
GENUS
Golden Sixties
Silent Barricade
Dva ohně
The Musician
Year of the Revolution 1848
CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
Against All
Jan Žižka
Barrandovské nokturno aneb Jak film tančil a zpíval
Moje Praha
Až se vrátíš...
Searching for Ester
Racek Is Late
Krakatit
Rodinné trampoty oficiála Tříšky
Posel úsvitu
Other credits
4 credits
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