Mucha: The Story of an Artist who Created a Style

Synopsis

At the end of the 19th century, the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) ranked among the pioneers of the Art Nouveau movement. Virtually overnight, he became famous in Paris thanks to his posters of star actress Sarah Bernhardt. But at the height of his fame, Mucha left Paris to realise his lifetime project “The Slav Epic”. He worked on the monumental cycle of paintings for 18 years – only to meet fierce criticism upon completion. In the 1960s, the hippie movement rediscovered his pictorial world and his Art Nouveau posters attained cult status. Mucha continues to inspire many artists even today. In the documentary, graphic designer Stanley Mouse, graffiti artist Mear One and illustrator Yoshitaka Amano talk about his influence on their works. Nevertheless, Alphonse Mucha is perhaps one of the most famous unknown artists in the world. The feature documentary tells the story of Alphonse Mucha from the perspective of his son, the writer and bon-vivant Jiří Mucha, with an abundance of re-enactments, animations, archive footage as well as paintings and photos.

Biography

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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