Jiří Menzel

Jiří Menzel (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films are adapted from works by Czech writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Vladislav Vančura. His father Josef was a journalist, translator and children's book writer. Menzel studied directing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) in Prague. His teachers at the academy included Czech Director Otakar Vávra.

Career Menzel was a member of the Czech New Wave cinema in the 1960s. His first feature film, Closely Watched Trains, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967. The film was also based on a book by Bohumil Hrabal, and spoke about life in a re-education camp in Czechoslovakia under the communist rule in the 1950s.

Menzel was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film again in 1986 with his dark comedy My Sweet Little Village. In 1987, he was a member of the jury at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1995, he was a member of the jury at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival. He was awarded an IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2013. He was also awarded the French title of Knight of Arts and Letters and the Czech Lion for lifetime artistic contribution.

His last appearance in a feature film was in the 2018 Slovak film The Interpreter, which was based on the story of a man's interactions with an SS soldier who had executed his parents. The film was Slovakia's official entry to the Oscars.

Death Menzel died on 5 September 2020, aged 82, after battling a prolonged illness. He had undergone a brain surgery earlier in 2017.

Filmography Sources:

As a director

As an actor Strop (Short film) (1962) Felhöjáték (1984) Drákulův švagr (TV Mini-Series) (1996) Rokonok (2006) The Door (2012) The Interpreter (2018)