Zet Molas (born Zdena Holubová, married name Zdenka Smolová; 18 March 1896 – 1956) was a Czech avant-garde film director, actress, critic and screenwriter. She was the third ever female Czech director.

Career

Molas was born in the area of Pražské Předměstí of Hradec Králové in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in 1896 to a middle-class

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

clerk, and spent part of her childhood in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She attended the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

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 ...

, under the sculptor Otakar Španiel. There, she studied poetry as well as theater. After her time at the AAAD, she studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

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. Molas began her career in film after returning to Prague, where she funded her first film, ''Závěť podivínova,'' thanks to her husband Bohumil Smol, who was a businessman. After the film was completed, she began work in France on an adaptation of the Théophile Gautier novel ''Mademoiselle De Maupin'', on which she was to star as well as write and direct. However, the production ran into problems and Molas returned to Prague. Back in Prague, she became editor-in-chief and publisher for the magazine ''Český filmový svět'' (''Czech Film World''), where she wrote and published articles on the subject of film and the arts, including a number of contributions from members of the left-wing association

Devětsil The Devětsil () was an association of Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 (1927 in Brno). Founded as U. S. Devětsil (Uměleck ...

. She and her husband co-owned and managed the magazine from 1926 to 1927. Molas was the owner of a production company named Molas-film. During her tenure as editor-in-chief of the magazine, a number of films were announced but stalled in production, including another adaptation of ''Mademoiselle De Maupin'' called ''Ženy nedohledáš (You Won’t Find the Women), Hříšnice a zákon (The Sinner and the Law), Karneval (Carnival),'' and ''Milostná mámení (Love Seductions),'' an adaptation of a play by . In 1928, she finally made a comeback to the film industry with ''Mlynář a jeho dítě'' ''(the Miller and His Child),'' an adaptation of a play by

Ernst Raupach Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach (21 May 178418 March 1852) was a German dramatist. Biography He was born at Straupitz ( pl, Strupice), near Liegnitz in Silesia, a son of the village pastor. He attended the gymnasium at Liegnitz, and studied theol ...

. The film, which contains supernatural elements, is considered to be the first Czech foray into

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

in film. In 1930, she created the movie ''Pancéřové auto'' ''(Armored Car),'' an action crime comedy. Afterwards, she went to Germany, Italy and France to study. She made a comeback in the film industry in 1936–1937 with screenwriting for Miroslav Cikán’s comedy ''Lojzička'' (1936), and with her most important work, ''Karel Hynek Mácha,'' a biography. The film lacked the avant-garde approach of Molas' previous work, being a more typical epic drama with large setpieces, the largest constructions to have ever been used in Czech film to that date. The film received praise from the press. After ''Karel'', Molas wrote a number of screenplays. However, she never returned to directing. Under the Germany Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Molas and her husband aligned with the German occupation. Her husband served as the Secretary of the Film Division of the Reich Protectorate Office and supervised the Aryanization of the Adria Theater. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was forced to resettle in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, where she died in obscurity. She died in 1956.

Personal life

Molas' first married name was Grossman, after which she divorced and married her second husband, Bohumil Smol. The two lived in

. In 1925, she had an affair with poet Vítězslav Nezval, who published a number of works in the magazine she edited, ''Český filmový svět.''

Work

Filmography

* 1923 - ''Testament of the Stranger'' (original story, screenplay, direction) * 1928 - ''The miller and his child'' (screenplay, direction, casting, role of the miller's daughter Maria) * 1929 - ''Armored Car'' (theme, screenplay, role of Hamilton's daughter Bessa) * 1936 – ''Lojzička'' (screenplay) * 1937 – ''Karel Hynek Mácha'' (screenplay, director, editor) * ''Panna (The Virgin)'' (screenplay) * ''Milostná mámení (Amorous Delusions)'' (screenplay) * ''Princezna Pampeliška (Princess Dandelion)'' (screenplay)

References

External links

Zet Molas
in the Czech-Slovak film database
Zet Molas
in Film Review {{DEFAULTSORT:Molas, Zet 1956 deaths 1896 births People from Hradec Králové Czech women film directors Czech film actresses Czech screenwriters Surrealist filmmakers