Mucha: The Story of an Artist who Created a Style

Synopsis

Alfons Mucha (1860–1939) gehört Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts zu den Vorreitern des Jugendstils. Praktisch über Nacht wird er in Paris mit seinen Postern für die Starschauspielerin Sarah Bernhardt berühmt. Doch auf der Höhe seines Ruhms verlässt Mucha Paris, um sein Lebensprojekt „Das Slawische Epos“ zu verwirklichen. 18 Jahre lang arbeitet er an dem monumentalen Bilderzyklus – und trifft am Ende auf heftige Ablehnung. In den 1960ern entdeckt die Hippie-Kultur seine Bildwelt neu, seine Jugendstilposter erlangen Kultstatus. Bis heute inspiriert Mucha viele Künstler. Der Grafik-Designer Stanley Mouse, der Graffiti-Künstler Mear One und der Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano sprechen im Dokumentarfilm über seinen Einfluss auf ihre Werke. Dennoch ist Alfons Mucha vielleicht einer der berühmtesten, unbekannten Künstler der Welt. Der Dokumentarfilm erzählt die Geschichte des tschechischen Künstlers Alfons Mucha aus der Sicht seines Sohnes, des Schriftstellers und Bonvivants Jiří Mucha, mit einer Fülle von Re-Enactments, Animationen, Archivmaterial sowie Gemälden und Fotos.

Biographie

Roman Vávra (1965) is one of the most talented contemporary Czech filmmakers. He first graduated from the University of Economics and was interested in journalism. Eventually, however, after 1989 he turned to FAMU where he graduated from the Department of Documentary Film. During his studies he began to cooperate with Czech Television in 1992 and to shoot his first films as Czech TV productions. He specialized in documentary production. In the mid-1990s, for example, he was fascinated by the peculiar portraits of The Gravedigger and the documentary Warriors about a group of harvesters weeding cowslips. In 1998 he directed his first feature film – What You Catch in the Rye, for which he was nominated for five Czech Lions and won prizes at a number of international festivals. He received honors for his next feature-length documentary Battle for Life, which he co-wrote with Miroslav Jank and Vítek Janeček. This film was also the first post-revolution documentary to be put on general cinematic release. Roman Vávra is also a multiple holder of the Prize of the Czech Literary Fund and the Pavel Juráček Prize. In 2003 he made a fairy tale in Czech-Slovak-German co-production. With the writer Miloš Doležal he prepared a documentary about the life of Josef Toufar. Vávra is not only a director, but often acts in his films also as a screenwriter, cameraman and editor. And also he plays in minor roles. He also directs for theater. FILMOGRAPHY (all the films are directed by Roman Vávra) 2010 Škola princů (Princes’ School), TV film 2003 Nadměrné maličkosti: Drámo (Excessive Little Things: Drama), TV film Čert ví proč (The Devil Knows Why), feature fairy-tale film, director and script-writer 2001 Skříň (Closet), TV film 1998 Co chytneš v žitě (What You Catch in the Rye), Czech Lion Award Actress in a Leading Role + 4 nominations, the best film including, director and script-writer 1995 V žitě (In the Rye), student film, director and script-writer DOCUMENTARY FILMS 2018 Rudí prezidenti (Red Presidents), TV series Poslušný generál – Ludvík Svoboda (Obedient General Ludvík Svoboda) Sjednotitel ve strachu – Klement Gottwald (Consolidator in the Fear – K. G.) 2016 Jako bychom dnes zemřít měli (Like to Die Today), documentary about parson Toufar, director and script-writer 2015 Kronika králů (Kings Chronicle), TV film, documentary about Dalimil’s chronicle Mrtvolu sprovoďte ze světa, TV film, director and script-writer Můj pokus o mistrovský opus, TV series 2013 Ivan Havel: Pozdní sběr (Ivan Havel: Late Grape Harvest) Století rádia (Century of a Radio), TV film 2011 Heydrich – konečné řešení (Heydrich – Final Solution), TV series Trafačka – Chrám svobody (Trafačka – Temple of a Freedom), Czech Lion award – the best documentary 2008 Tajemství kufru Arnošta Valenty (Secret of Arnošt Valenta’s Suitcase) 2007 Azory pod hladinou (Azores Islands under the Surface) 2004 Karel IV. (Charles IV.), TV film 2001 Chaos, TV film Jak jsem se zbláznil (How I Went Crazy), TV film 2000 Bitva o život, (Fight for Life), director and script-writer 1999 Rádio Limonádový Joe, TV film 1995 Bojovníci (Warriors), TV film 1994 Hrobník (Gravedigger), TV film

Film Info

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