Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was 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 *Czech (surnam ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and pedagogue.

Biography and career

Vávra attended universities in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and

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 ...

, where he studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. 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 Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

'' (1954), ''

Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czechs, Czech military leader and Knight who was a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, and a prominent Radical Hussite who led the Taborites, Taborite faction during the Hu ...

'' (1955) and '' Against All'' (1957). 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 The 8th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 10 to 23 July 1973. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Soviet film '' That Sweet Word: Liberty!'' directed by Vytautas Žalakevičius and the Bulgarian film '' Affection'' directed by ...

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".

Awards

In 2001, he was awarded the ''Czech Lion'' for his lifelong contribution to the Czech cinema. In 2004, he received the presidential ''Medal of Merit''.

Criticism

Vávra's critics point to his willingness to accommodate the Communist regime. In a 2003 article ("Playing the Villain", ''The Globe and Mail'', May 15, 2003) about his documentary film, ''Hitler and I'' that he shot in Prague, David Cherniack described the following encounter with his former FAMU head professor:

Filmography

References

External links

*
Short biography

DVD Cover of the Malleus Maleficarum

Film clips from the Malleus Maleficarum

Film clips from the Romance for Cornet

Complete filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavra, Otakar 1911 births 2011 deaths People from Hradec Králové People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Czech film directors Czech male screenwriters Film educators Czech men centenarians Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Academic staff of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague Czech propagandists Propaganda film directors