Petr Zelenka (born 21 August 1967 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *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 ''The Karamazov Brothers'' ( cz, Karamazovi) is a 2008 Czech film directed by Petr Zelenka (director), Petr Zelenka with a soundtrack by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. It tells the story of a group of Czech actors who come to Polish steelworks to perform a ...

'' was the Czech Republic's official

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

submission for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Career

An early notable work is a black comedy, '' Tales of Common Insanity'' (2004) ( cs, 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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was also published in English and translated to

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. For his film ''Mnâga – Happy End '' he won the 1996

Findling Award The Findling Award or short Findling (german: Findlingspreis) was a German film award donated by the umbrella organization of cultural cinemas and film clubs Verband für Filmkommunikation. It was founded in 1982 in GDR and was awarded on sever ...

at the Filmfestival Cottbus. In 2005 Zelenka adapted the comedy as a film, released as ''

Wrong Side Up ''Wrong Side Up'' ( cz, Příběhy obyčejného šílenství) 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 inter ...

'', 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 Leon Theremin (born Lev Sergeyevich Termen rus, Лев Сергеевич Термéн, p=ˈlʲef sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ tɨrˈmʲen; – 3 November 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one o ...

. His 2008 film, ''

'', was the Czech Republic's official

submission for

. His 2010 election advertisement "Přemluv bábu a dědu" caused controversy as critics believed it was offensive against elder people and "an imperfect copy of

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

's stand-up video.""Bez humoru ani bábu nepřemluvíš. Spot Přemluv bábu je nedokonalou kopií videa stand-up komičky Sarah Silvermanové"
, ''Marketing a Média''

Filmography

References

External links

Short bio plus info about ''Tales of Common Insanity''
at divadlo.cz (in English) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelenka, Petr 20th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights Czech male dramatists and playwrights Czech theatre directors 1967 births Living people Film directors from Prague Writers from Prague