Quick Facts
Biography
Petr Zelenka (born 21 August 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech playwright and director of theatre and film. His films have been recognized at international festivals in Moscow and Rotterdam. In 2008, his film Karamazovi was the Czech Republic's official Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.
Career
An early notable work is a black comedy, Tales of Common Insanity (2004) (Czech: Příběhy obyčejného šílenství), which he directed at Dejvické divadlo. He received the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Play. The play was later staged in other Czech theatres as well as in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Germany. It was also published in English and translated to Russian. For his film Mnâga – Happy End he won the 1996 Findling Award at the Filmfestival Cottbus.
In 2005 Zelenka adapted the comedy as a film, released as Wrong Side Up, which won two movie festival awards in 2006 and was nominated for six other awards. His second most notable play is Teremin, inspired by the life of Russian inventor Léon Theremin.
His 2008 film, Karamazovi, was the Czech Republic's official Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film.
His 2010 election advertisement "Přemluv bábu a dědu" caused controversy as critics believed it was offensive against elder people and "an imperfect copy of Sarah Silverman's stand-up video."
Selected films
- 1996 – Mňága – Happy End (screenplay and direction), won several awards at the film festivals in Cottbus (Findling Award), Plzeň and České Budějovice
- 1997 – Buttoners (Knoflíkáři, screenplay and direction), winner of a Tiger award at the Rotterdam IFF
- 2000 – Loners (Samotáři, co-author of screenplay)
- 2002 – Year of the Devil (Rok ďábla, screenplay and direction), FIPRESCI Prize at the Cottbus IFF, six Czech Lion Awards including Best film and Best director, Prize Trieste at Trieste film festival
- 2005 – Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství, screenplay and direction), received the Critics Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival and the Don Quixote Award at Cottbus
- 2008 – Karamazovi (screenplay and direction)
- 2015 – Lost in Munich (screenplay and direction)
- http://www.czechcentre.org.uk/events/music/mnagazdorp.html
- "27th Moscow International Film Festival (2005)". MIFF. Retrieved 2013-04-14.