Zdenek Sverak is a Czech actor, writer and screenwriter. One of the most famous and famous Czech cultural figures. Twice nominee and winner of the Oscar for scripts for the films "Primary School", "My Central Village", "Kolya".
Zdenek's creative biography began with literary creativity. He has written over 300 plays and screenplays for theater, radio, television and film. Sverak is also known as an excellent comedian and actor. On account of his roles in 41 films. Based on his scripts, 29 films were shot. He won two prestigious awards at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2007 and 2014.
In 1989 he was one of the jury members at the Berlin Film Festival.
Biography facts
Zdenek was born in Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1936. Since childhood, the boy was carried away by creativity and literature. He began to write his first works during his school years.
After completing his primary education, Sverak entered the Charles University in Prague, where he studied literature and pedagogy. During his student years, he continued to write short stories, and then became interested in writing articles for magazines and scripts.
After graduating from the university, the young man began to cooperate with publishing houses and the youth editorial board of television programs. He wrote scripts for many well-known programs about youth in those years, and also published articles and short stories in popular magazines. For several years Zdenek worked on radio in entertainment humorous programs.
In the mid-1960s, Sverak, together with his friends Ladislav Smolyak and Jiri Shebanek, began working on the creation of a unique, genius character, Yara Cimrman. Soon all of Czechoslovakia already knew about him, literally falling in love with a new hero.
Tsimrman is an erudite, a unique inventor, a real genius. He is a mathematician, physicist, writer, playwright, poet, actor, composer, philosopher and forensic scientist. In some ways, his image was similar to the famous Sherlock Holmes, but only in small details. In general, it was a completely new, unusual and very attractive character who was able to surpass real heroes in popularity.
In 2005, a popular vote was held in the Czech Republic for the title of "The Greatest Czech". Oddly enough, but it was Yara Tsimrman who could become the winner, and only the fact that he is not a real person prevented the jury from awarding him the award. In 2010, the action "Seven Wonders of the Czech Republic" was held and here Yara was declared the main "wonder of the country".
In 1966, Sverak co-founded The Theater of Jara Cimrman, which featured plays about Cimrman, his life and research. It is interesting that the theater still exists today; performances about a fictional hero are still staged on its stage. There is a museum in Prague dedicated to the life, work and inventions of Jarak. It contains the character's personal belongings, even his baby stroller, clothes and dishes are there.
Already a well-known writer, Sverak became the founder of a charitable foundation that helps seriously ill people who are unable to move independently or are completely paralyzed.
For his literary work, the writer was awarded three times the annual special Magnesia Litera book prize. Since 2004, Sverak has won the Readers' Choice award three times.
For almost 8 years Sverak was in the ranks of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and left the party after A. Dubcek was elected to the post of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, whose arrival was accompanied by a number of significant changes in the country. This period was popularly called the "Prague Spring". Sverak did not support Dubcek's liberal reforms and decided to leave the party.
Film career
Sverak came to cinematography in the late 1960s. He played in many famous films, some of which were filmed according to his scripts. Many films have received high marks from viewers and film critics and a number of prestigious awards, including the Oscar for the best film in a foreign language and 2 nominations for this award. Zdenek wrote several scripts for films together with his son Jan, who also became a famous cinematographer.
The actor starred in such popular projects as: "Skylarks on a string", "Lucy and Miracles", "30 girls and Pythagoras", "Calculated happiness", "On a farm near the forest", "Marechek, give me a pen!", " Ball lightning "," Brontosaurus "," Run, waiter, run! "," Hit "," Heartfelt greetings from the globe "," Holiday of the snowdrops "," Honeymoon trip to Ilya "," Three veterans "," How poets lose illusion "," Yara Tsimrman lying, sleeping "," What's the matter with you, doctor? "," My central village "," Like poison "," Big movie robbery "," Season in question "," Prague student "," Primary school”,“Accumulator”,“Kolya”,“Empty container”,“Three brothers”,“Barefoot on the stubble”.
In 1973, according to the script by Sverak, his first musical comedy film "30 girls and Pythagoras" was shot. After that, he wrote scripts for almost 30 more films.
Personal life
Not much is known about Sverak's personal life. In the late 1950s, he married a woman named Bozena.
In 1961, a daughter, Ganka, was born into the family. She became a famous Czech writer, translator and teacher. She is the founder of her own literary school and the author of several famous novels.
In 1965, a son, Yang, was born into the family. He became a renowned Czech screenwriter, producer and actor. Graduated from the Academy of Musical Art, Faculty of Film and Television. He worked a lot in the production of documentaries, then began writing scripts for fiction films, and also starred in many famous films. On his account there are many awards, including Oscar, Golden Globe, Crystal Globe, prizes at international film festivals in Tokyo and Krakow.
