Both as an actor and as a screenwriter, his films have achieved cult status. He created the legendary Czech \u201chero\u201d J\u00e1ra Cimrman, hailed as "The Greatest Czech\u201d in the nationwide television poll \u201cNejv\u011bt\u0161\u00ed \u010cech\u201d. He brought the Czechs their first Oscar in decades. At the 19th annual Art Film Fest, Zden\u011bk Sv\u011br\u00e1k will personally accept the Actor\u2019s Mission Award and place a bronze plaque bearing his own name in Tren\u010dianske Teplice\u2019s Festival Park.<\/p>\n
One of the most popular actors and talented screenwriters in the Czech Republic was born on March 28th, 1936 in Prague. Starting out as a Czech teacher and a radio editor, his first experience with the dramatic arts was as a cofounder of the now-infamous J\u00e1ra Cimrman Theatre. In 1967, Sv\u011br\u00e1k and Ladislav Smoljak laid the theatre\u2019s foundations, devising the greatest (imaginary) Czech hero of all time. Cimrman was a rousing success, selling out shows for over four decades now. \u201cOne of the Czech people\u2019s characteristic traits is humour, and it\u2019s how we deal with our complexes, our unhappiness, our powerlessness. It\u2019s saved us many a time, and that’s a reason to appreciate it,\u201c surmises Sv\u011br\u00e1k. <\/p>\n
His transition from theatre to film was a fluid one. From the seventies on, he has written concepts and screenplays for films that are now bona-fide cult classics, with and without Smoljak\u2019s help. Together, they brought Cimrman to the silver screen in pictures such as \u201cJ\u00e1ra Cimrman Lying, Sleeping\u201d. On his own, Sv\u011br\u00e1k made his mark with hits like \u201cMare\u010dek, Pass Me the Pen!\u201d, \u201cWaiter, Scarper!\u201d and \u201cThose Wonderful Movie Cranks\u201d. Together with Ji\u0159\u00ed Menzel, he earned the first Oscar nomination for a Czech film in nearly two decades with "My Sweet Little Village". <\/p>\n
But the greatest awards would come after he formed the \u201cSv\u011br\u00e1k Duo" with his son Jan. Reminiscing on his own childhood and teaching career, Zden\u011bk wrote the screenplay for Jan’s first feature-length film, "The Elementary School", where he played the lead with relish. The picture was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film, but father and son didn\u2019t win their own golden figurine until 1997\u2019s \u201cKolya\u201d, starring Zden\u011bk, finally won the Oscar. And that wasn’t the last of its world-class awards \u2013 it won a Golden Globe, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pure joy, condensed into a single moment. I’ll bet that was how Emil Z\u00e1topek felt when he finished a marathon. I say this because the work we put into the film was something like a marathon itself,\u201d said Sv\u011br\u00e1k after the Oscar ceremony. \u201cSure, this Oscar is certainly precious, but it’s a one-time thing, something most only get once in a lifetime. It makes me enormously happy, but the joy I get from Cimrman is even greater and longer-lasting,\u201d he said in an interview.
The father-son duo has gone on to create even more acclaimed films, including "Dark Blue World" and "Empties". <\/p>\n
This year, Zden\u011bk Sv\u011br\u00e1k was bestowed a Czech Lion for his extraordinary contribution to Czech cinema.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Both as an actor and as a screenwriter, his films have achieved cult status. He created the legendary Czech \u201chero\u201d