Jan Hřebejk (; born 27 June 1967) is a Czech film director and actor.
Life and career
Born in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, Hřebejk graduated from high school in 1987 and continued his studies at the
Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) from 1987 to 1991, majoring in screenplay and dramaturgy.
He was at FAMU alongside
Petr Jarchovský
Petr Jarchovský (born 6 October 1966 in Prague) is a Czech screenwriter, whose writing credits include ''Big Beat (film), Big Beat'' (1993), ''Cosy Dens'' (1999), and ''Divided We Fall (film), Divided We Fall'' (2000). Jarchovský is a frequent a ...
, who is also his classmate from high school and subsequently a frequent collaborator as a screenwriter.
While at FAMU, Hřebejk directed and produced two short films, ''Co všechno chcete vědět o sexu a bojíte se to prožít'' (1988) and ''L. P. 1948'' (1989),
from scripts written by his classmate
Petr Zelenka. His professional directorial debut was a short film for Czech TV, ''Nedělejte nic, pokud k tomu nemáte vážný důvod'' (1991), also written by Zelenka. His films caught the attention of viewers and critics, and entered student film festivals.
Also while still at FAMU, Hřebejk and Jarchovský wrote a comedy screenplay inspired by Hřebejk's background at a summer camp, entitled ''Pejme písen dohola''.
This screenplay was filmed in 1990 as a full-length feature by director
Ondřej Trojan.
In 1992, Hřebejk filmed a version of his FAMU graduate thesis, an interpretation of
Egon Hostovský's ''Dobrocinny vecírek''.
This was followed by ''
Big Beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...
'', a rock and roll comedy set in the 1950s and Hřebejk's first major box office success. The film was written by Jarchovský, based on a story by
Petr Šabach
Petr Šabach (August 23, 1951 – September 16, 2017) was a Czech writer.
Works
* ''Jak potopit Austrálii'' (1986)
* ''Hovno hoří'' (1994)
* ''Zvláštní problém Františka S.'' (1996)
* ''Putování mořského koně'' (1998)
* ''Babič ...
, and won four
Czech Lion awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Hřebejk.
In 1996, Hřebejk directed a children's TV series, ''
Kde padají hvezdy'', which was syndicated around Europe.
The following year, Hřebejk and Jarchovský won awards from the Film and Television Association and the Literary Fund for their contribution to dramatic television programming, for three episodes they wrote for the TV series ''Bachelors''.
The writing and production team behind ''Big Beat'' subsequently reunited for two further films, ''
Cosy Dens'' (; 1999) and ''
Divided We Fall'' (; 2000), both of which became enormously successful within the Czech Republic.
His 2009 film, ''
Kawasaki's Rose'', was selected as the Czech entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film at the
83rd Academy Awards,
but didn't make the final shortlist.
Filmography
Director
Cinema
* ''Co všechno chcete vědět o sexu a bojíte se to prožít'' (1988) – student movie
* ''L.P. 1948'' (1989) – short movie
* ''Nedělejte nic, pokud k tomu nemáte vážný důvod'' (1991) – short movie
* ''
Big Beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...
'' (''Šakalí léta'', 1993)
* ''
Cosy Dens'' (''Pelíšky'', 1999)
* ''
Divided We Fall'' (''Musíme si pomáhat'', 2000) –
73rd Academy Awards
The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacif ...
nomination
* ''
Pupendo'' (2003)
* ''
Up and Down'' (''Horem pádem'', 2004)
* ''
Beauty in Trouble'' (''Kráska v nesnázích'', 2006)
* ''
Teddy Bear
A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
'' (''Medvídek, 2007)''
* ''
I'm All Good'' (''U mě dobrý'', 2008)
* ''
Shameless'' (''Nestyda'', 2008)
* ''
Kawasaki's Rose'' (''Kawasakiho růže'', 2009)
* ''
Innocence'' (''Nevinnost'', 2011)
* ''The Holy Quaternity'' (''Svatá Čtveřice'', 2012)
* ''
Honeymoon
A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...
'' (''Líbánky'', 2013)
* ''Zakázané uvolnění'' (2014)
* ''
The Teacher'' (''Učitelka'', 2016)
* ''
Garden Store: A Family Friend'' (''Zahradnictví: Rodinný přítel'', 2017)
* ''
Garden Store: Suitor'' (''Zahradnictví: Nápadník'', 2017)
* ''
Garden Store: Deserter'' (''Zahradnictví: Dezertér'', 2017)
* ''
State of Emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
'' (''Výjimečný stav'', 2024)
Television
* ''The Charity Ball'' ("Dobročinný večírek", 1992)
* ''
Czech Soda'' ("Česká soda", 1993–97) – TV-series
* ''GEN: The Gallery of the Nation's Elite'' ("GEN: Galerie elity národa", 1993–94) – documentary
**
'' Vladimír Jiránek by Jan Hřebejk'' ("Vladimír Jiránek pohledem Jana Hřebejka")
* ''GENUS'' ("GENUS", 1995–96) – documentary
**
'' Michal Viewegh by Jan Hřebejk''
**
''Vladimír Mišík by Jan Hřebejk''
**
''Dominik Hašek
Dominik Hašek (, ; born 29 January 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders in history, Hašek also p ...
by Jan Hřebejk''
* ''60'' ("60", 1996) – documentary
* ''How's the Living'' ("Jak se žije", 1997) – short documentary TV-series
* ''Where Stars Fall'' ("Kde padají hvězdy", 1996) – TV series
* ''The Last Concert'' ("Poslední koncert", 1997)
* ''The Window'' ("Okno", 1997) – short
* ''The Good News'' ("Dobrá zpráva", 1997)
Opera
* ''Tomorrow There Will Be...'' ("Zítra se bude...", 2010)
Actor
* ''Co všechno chcete vědět o sexu a bojíte se to prožít'' (1988) – student movie
* ''Šeptej'' (1996) as Woody
* ''
Year of the Devil
''Year of the Devil'' () is a 2002 Czech mockumentary film directed by Petr Zelenka. It stars musicians who act as themselves: Czech folk music band Čechomor, musicians and poets Jaromír Nohavica, Karel Plihal and British musician and compos ...
'' ("Rok ďábla", 1996)
* ''Úžasný rokenrol v Čechách aneb Jeď, Honzo, jeď'' (2002) as himself
* ''Operace Hokejdo'' (2004) as himself
* ''Největší z Čechů'' (2010) as chair of the grant committee
* ''Rozmarná léta českého filmu'' (2011) – documentary, as himself
Other contributions
* ''Pějme píseň dohola'' (1990) – writer and narrator
References
External links
*
Interview with Jan Hřebejkat
Eurochannel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrebejk, Jan
1967 births
Living people
Sun in a Net Awards winners
Film directors from Prague
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni