Otakar Vávra

Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. Vávra attended universities in Brno and Prague, where he studied architecture. 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 (1954), Jan Žižka (1955) and Against All (1957).[2] 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 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".

Crew

Dva ohně

(Creative Producer)

Láska

(Director)

Láska

(Screenplay)

Presentiment

(Creative Producer)

Revoluční rok 1848

(Creative Producer)

Rodinné trampoty oficiála Tříšky

(Creative Producer)

The Night Guest

(Screenplay)

White Darkness

(Creative Producer)

Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“

(Screenplay)

Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“

(Story)

Krakatit

(Creative Producer)

Hostinec „U kamenného stolu“

(Creative Producer)

Na dobré stopě

(Creative Producer)

Silent Barricade

(Screenplay)

Silent Barricade

(Creative Producer)

Vzbouření na vsi

(Creative Producer)

Komediant

(Screenplay)

Komediant

(Director)

Putování Jana Amose

(Story)

Putování Jana Amose

(Director)

Putování Jana Amose

(Screenplay)

Posel úsvitu

(Creative Producer)

Racek Is Late

(Creative Producer)

Romance for Bugle

(Director)

Horoucí srdce

(Story)

Shoesmachine

(Screenplay)

Witchhammer

(Director)

Ze světa lesních samot

(Screenplay)

Jan Hus

(Story)

Jan Hus

(Screenplay)

Krakatit

(Director)

Golden Queen

(Screenplay)

Jan Žižka

(Screenplay)

Jan Žižka

(Creative Producer)

Jan Žižka

(Story)

The Thirteenth Chamber

(Screenplay)

The Thirteenth Chamber

(Director)

Romance for Bugle

(Screenplay)

Jan Žižka

(Director)

Jan Hus

(Director)

Against All

(Director)

The Adventurous Bachelor

(Director)

Against All

(Creative Producer)

Sokolovo

(Director)

Maryša

(Screenplay)

Silent Barricade

(Director)

We Live in Prague

(Director)

Listopad

(Director)

Virginity

(Director)

Občan Brych

(Screenplay)

Golden Queen

(Director)

Dark Sun

(Director)

History of Philosophy

(Director)

Rozina the Love Child

(Director)

A Story of Love and Honor

(Director)

The Light Penetrates the Dark

(Director)

May Fairy Tale

(Director)

The Guild of the Kutná Hora Virgins

(Director)

Oldrich and Bozena

(Director)

August Sunday

(Director)

August Sunday

(Screenplay)

The Magic House

(Director)

The Night Guest

(Director)

Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle

(Director)

Days of Betrayal

(Director)

The Liberation of Prague

(Director)

Humoreska

(Director)

Days of Betrayal

(Story)

Days of Betrayal

(Screenplay)

The Girl in Blue

(Director)

Sokolovo

(Story)

Sokolovo

(Screenplay)

Evropa tančila valčík

(Director)

Moje Praha

(Director)

Moje Praha

(Story)

Moje Praha

(Screenplay)

Národní umělec Zdeněk Štěpánek

(Screenplay)

Národní umělec Zdeněk Štěpánek

(Director)

Policejní hodina

(Screenplay)

Policejní hodina

(Director)

Přijdu hned

(Director)

The Liberation of Prague

(Screenplay)

The Liberation of Prague

(Story)

A Story of Love and Honor

(Screenplay)

Happy Journey

(Director)

Krakatit

(Screenplay)

Witchhammer

(Screenplay)

Dark Sun

(Screenplay)

Oldrich and Bozena

(Screenplay)

Veronika

(Screenplay)

Jedenácté přikázání

(Screenplay)

Ulička v ráji

(Screenplay)

Pacientka dr. Hegla

(Director)

Pacientka dr. Hegla

(Screenplay)

Veronika

(Director)

Uličnice

(Screenplay)

Její pastorkyně

(Screenplay)

Hlídač č. 47

(Screenplay)

May Fairy Tale

(Screenplay)

Přijdu hned

(Screenplay)

Humoreska

(Screenplay)

Okouzlená

(Director)

Okouzlená

(Screenplay)

Vdavky Nanynky Kulichovy

(Screenplay)

Bezdětná

(Screenplay)

Turbina

(Screenplay)

Turbina

(Director)

Presentiment

(Director)

Presentiment

(Screenplay)

The Masked Lover

(Screenplay)

The Masked Lover

(Director)

Listopad

(Screenplay)

Listopad

(Editor)

A Little Street in Paradise

(Writer)

The Adventurous Bachelor

(Screenplay)

Nástup

(Director)

Revoluční rok 1848

(Story)

Nástup

(Screenplay)

Vlast vítá

(Idea)

Vlast vítá

(Screenplay)

Cesta k barikádám

(Director)

Cesta k barikádám

(Idea)

Vlast vítá

(Director)

Cesta k barikádám

(Screenplay)

Ulička v ráji

(Story)

Tři muži ve sněhu

(Screenplay)

Against All

(Screenplay)

The Guild of the Kutná Hora Virgins

(Screenplay)

Revoluční rok 1848

(Screenplay)

Občan Brych

(Director)

Modern shoe production

(Director)

The Light Penetrates the Dark

(Idea)

The Light Penetrates the Dark

(Screenplay)

The Light Penetrates the Dark

(Editor)

The Bať family's trip to Yugoslavia

(Director)

Svítání

(Screenplay)

We Live in Prague

(Editor)

We Live in Prague

(Screenplay)

We Live in Prague

(Story)

Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle

(Screenplay)

History of Philosophy

(Screenplay)

Morality Above All Else

(Screenplay)

Virginity

(Screenplay)

První parta

(Screenplay)

První parta

(Director)

The Girl in Blue

(Screenplay)

The Magic House

(Screenplay)

Horoucí srdce

(Screenplay)

Horoucí srdce

(Director)

Návrat presidenta dr. Edvarda Beneše do Prahy 16. května 1945

(Idea)

Rozina the Love Child

(Screenplay)

Návrat presidenta dr. Edvarda Beneše do Prahy 16. května 1945

(Director)

Návrat presidenta dr. Edvarda Beneše do Prahy 16. května 1945

(Screenplay)

Happy Journey

(Screenplay)

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