Petr Václav (born 11 June 1967) is a Czech

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 ...

and

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 ...

whose films have received many awards, both in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and internationally. He has lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

since 2003 and holds both French and Czech citizenship.

Life and works

Václav was 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 ...

in a family of music composer Jiří Václav (1940-2020) and film conductor Ljuba Václavová. He graduated from FAMU. His short documentary ''Paní Le Murie'' (''Madame Le Murie'') of 1993 was nominated for FAMU's Student Academy Award and won a prize for best documentary at the Internationales Festival der Filmhochschulen (Filmschoolfest) in Munich. Václav´s first feature film, ''Marian'' (1996) won the Silver Leopard and

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Award at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

and other prizes at film festivals in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. His second feature, ''Paralelní světy'' (''Parallel Worlds'') of 2001 was written in collaboration with the French screenwriter Marie Desplechin and selected for presentation at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

. The film '' The Way Out'', released in France as ''Zaneta'', premiered at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition. French actor Lambert Wilson hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Turkish filmmaker Nuri ...

. It won seven

Czech Lion The Czech Lion Awards () are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historica ...

awards for the year 2014, including best film, best director, and best screenplay. Václav's film ''

We Are Never Alone ''We Are Never Alone'' () is a 2016 Czech drama film directed by Petr Vaclav. It was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Cast * Klaudia Dudová * Zdeněk Godla * Mi ...

'' opened at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in the Forum category and won the Tagesspiel Readers' Jury Award. He is finishing a new French-Italian co-production, ''Skokan'', which is now in post-production. His documentary '' Zpověď zapomenutého (Confession of the Vanished)'', which portrays the life of the Czech-Italian composer

Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant com ...

, was shown at the FIPA International Competition in Biarritz in 2016 and won the gold prize in its category (the ''FIPA d'or''). It is also the winner of the 2016 Trilobit Award. A biographical film based on the life of composer

with the title '' Il Boemo'' was opened at the

on 20 September 2022. It originated in a Czech-Italian-Slovak coproduction, music in a collaboration with the Czech conductor

Václav Luks Václav Luks (born 14 November 1970) is a Czech harpsichordist, French horn, horn player, Conducting, conductor, musicology, musicologist and pedagogy, pedagogue, founder and artistic director of the Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and of ...

, artistic director of the

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

ensemble Collegium 1704 and his soloists,https://film.moviezone.cz/il-boemo/ MovieZone.cz database Václav is a member of the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...

of Berlin and the

Czech Film and Television Academy The Czech Lion Awards () are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic. The jury is composed of members of the Czech Film and Televisio ...

. He was a pensioner of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

in 2010–11.

References

External links

*
Petr Václav
at ČSFD
Czech director Petr Vaclav, filmneweurope.com, June 13, 2014Petr Vaclav filmography on AlloCiné websitePetr Vaclav filmography on UniFrance website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaclav, Petr 1967 births Living people Czechoslovak film directors Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni Film directors from Prague Czech Lion Awards winners