Petr Zelenka (born 21 August 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech playwright and director of theatre and film. His films have been recognized at international festivals in Moscow and Rotterdam. In 2008, his film Karamazovi was the Czech Republic's official Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.
An early notable work is a black comedy, Tales of Common Insanity (2004) (Czech : Příběhy obyčejného šílenství), which he directed at Dejvické divadlo. He received the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Play. The play was later staged in other Czech theatres as well as in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Germany. It was also published in English and translated to Russian. For his film Mnâga – Happy End he won the 1996 Findling Award at the Filmfestival Cottbus.
In 2005, Zelenka adapted the comedy as a film, released as Wrong Side Up , which won two movie festival awards in 2006 and was nominated for six other awards. His second most notable play is Teremin, inspired by the life of Russian inventor Léon Theremin.
His 2008 film, Karamazovi , was the Czech Republic's official Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.
His 2010 election advertisement "Přemluv bábu a dědu" caused controversy as critics believed it was offensive against elder people [1] and "an imperfect copy of Sarah Silverman's stand-up video." [2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Visací zámek 1982 - 2007 | screenplay and direction | Television film |
| 1996 | Mňága – Happy End | screenplay and direction | won several awards at the film festivals in Cottbus (Findling Award), Plzeň and České Budějovice [3] |
| 1997 | Buttoners | Screenplay and direction | Winner of a Tiger award at the Rotterdam IFF |
| 2000 | Erotic Tales: Powers | Screenplay and direction | |
| 2000 | Loners | Co-author of screenplay | |
| 2002 | Year of the Devil | Screenplay and direction | FIPRESCI Prize at the Cottbus IFF, six Czech Lion Awards including Best film and Best director, Prize Trieste at Trieste film festival |
| 2005 | Wrong Side Up | Screenplay and direction | Received the Critics Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival [4] and the Don Quixote Award at Cottbus |
| 2008 | Karamazovi | Screenplay and direction | |
| 2015 | Lost in Munich | Screenplay and direction | |
| 2020 | Droneman | Screenplay and direction |
Jiří Menzel was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura.
Jaromír Nohavica or Jarek Nohavica is a Czech recording artist, songwriter, lyricist and poet.
Karel Roden is a Czech actor, popularly known for his roles in Hellboy and The Bourne Supremacy, and his voice work in Grand Theft Auto IV.
The Alfréd Radok Awards were presented annually by the Endowment for the Alfréd Radok Awards in collaboration with the theatre and literary agency Aura-Pont and the magazine Svět a Divadlo for achievements in Czech theatre, starting in 1992. The category of Best Performance was the first created. In 1995, the categories Best Play, Best Stage Design, Talent of the Year, Theatre of the Year, Best Actor, and Best Actress were created. The winners were selected by vote by theatre critics. 2013 was the last year the award ceremony was held. It was followed in 2014 by the Ceny divadelní kritiky, awarded by Svět a Divadlo for staging categories, and Anonymní dramatická soutěž agentury Aura-Pont.
Jan Hřebejk is a Czech film director and actor.
Ivan Trojan is a Czech actor, widely considered to be one of the greatest Czech actors of all time. With four Czech Lions for Best Actor in a Leading Role, he has also won two for his supporting roles in Seducer and One Hand Can't Clap, making him the most awarded performer at the Czech Lion Awards.
Tales of Common Insanity (2001) is a play by Petr Zelenka which won the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Play. After its opening in Prague, the play was staged in other Czech cities, as well as being translated and staged in a number of other countries. Zelenka wrote and directed a film adaptation of the comedy, which was released as Wrong Side Up in 2005 and was also highly successful.
Peter Quilter is a West End and Broadway playwright whose plays have been translated into 30 languages and performed in over 40 countries. He is best known for his Broadway play End of the Rainbow, which was adapted for the Oscar-winning film Judy (2019), starring Renée Zellweger. He is also author of the West End comedy "Glorious!" about the amateur opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins. Peter has twice been nominated for the Olivier Award and his Broadway debut was nominated for 3 Tony Awards.
Thanks for Every New Morning is a 1994 Czech film directed by Milan Šteindler. It was the Czech Republic's submission to the 68th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Wrong Side Up is a 2005 Czech comedy-drama film written and directed by Petr Zelenka. It is an adaptation of Zelenka's play Tales of Common Insanity. It is a tale of people showing their internal loneliness by their choices in life. It was entered into the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.
Boleslav Polívka is a Czech film and theatre actor, mime, playwright, and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 40 films.
The theatre of the Czech Republic has a rich tradition in all genres, including drama, opera, ballet and dance, puppet theatre, black light theatre etc.
Lucie Štěpánková is a Czech actress.
Jan Budař is a Czech actor, director, singer, composer and script writer.
Michal Novinski is a Slovak composer. He is best known for his film scores and theatre music. He received two Czech Lion Awards for scores for the films Kooky and In the Shadow.
Milan Šteindler is a Czech actor, screenwriter, and film director. He is a graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He won the Czech Lion Award for Best Director for his 1994 film, Thanks for Every New Morning. He obtained the Silver St. George Award for Directing at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival for the same film.
Collegium 1704 is a Czech early music orchestra and choir founded in 2005 by the Czech conductor, harpsichordist, and horn player Václav Luks. The Collegium Vocale 1704 is the affiliated vocal ensemble. Since 2007, the ensemble has been making regular guest appearances at festivals and concert halls all over Europe: the Salzburger Festspiele, the Berliner Philharmonie, London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Theater an der Wien and Konzerthaus, the Lucerne Festival, BOZAR in Brussels, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Wratislavia Cantans, and the Elbphilharmonie, and it is an ensemble-in-residence at the festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht and at the Leipzig Bachfest. In 2008, Music Bridge Prague — Dresden began, bringing together the two cities’ wealth of cultural traditions. In 2012 Collegium 1704 started a concert series at the Rudolfinum in Prague. Since autumn 2015, the two cycles have been merged into a single concert season that continues to take place in parallel in Prague and Dresden. In 2019 Collegium Vocale 1704 launched a series of chamber choir concerts in Prague.
Lost in Munich is a 2015 Czech comedy film directed by Petr Zelenka. The movie plot and title is inspired by Lost in La Mancha, a documentary film about Terry Gilliam's unfinished movie.
Václav Luks is a Czech harpsichordist, horn player, conductor, musicologist and pedagogue, founder and artistic director of the Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and of the vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704. He specialises in Baroque music, especially in the works of Jan Dismas Zelenka, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and others. His activities have played an important role in reviving interest in the works of Czech composers including Zelenka and Josef Mysliveček. In 2022, Luks was awarded the title of Knight of the French Ministry of Culture, Arts and Letters.
Dabing Street is a Czech comedy TV series. The plot is set in the summer of 2001 and describes what happens in a fictional dubbing company Studio ZERO after its owner dies. His widow takes over the company and tries to share the management of the studio with the employees.
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