Jan Němec

Jan Němec

Jan NĔMEC (1936-2016, Czech Republic) was a key figure in Central European avant-garde cinema and the Czechoslovak New Wave. He made his debut with internationally acclaimed Diamonds of the Night (1964) and continued with another masterpiece, The Party and the Guests (1966), which had the British magazine Films and Filming hail him as one of the year’s top five directors, and got him on the wrong side of the authorities in his own country. After making Oratorio for Prague (1968) about the Soviet-led invasion and the crushing of the Prague Spring, he was definitively banned from filmmaking and in 1974 he was forced into exile, living in West Germany and the United States. After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc he returned home and shot the majority of his films, mostly through his own production company Jan Nĕmec Film established with Iva Ruszeláková, whom he later married. Throughout his career Nĕmec never stopped developing his nonconformist vision and challenging the boundaries of artistic freedom as well as the limits of film as a medium – turning to more autobiographical subjects in the last 20 years of his career. 

Filmography

Sousto/A Loaf of Bread (1960, short), Paměť našeho dne/A Memory of the Present (1963, short doc), Démanty noci/Diamonds of the Night (1964), Perličky na dně/Pearls of the Deep (1965, segment Podvodníci/Impostors), O slavnosti a hostech/The Party and the Guests (1966), Mučedníci lásky/Martyrs of Love (1967), Mutter und Sohn/Mother and Son (1967, short), Náhrdelník melancholie/Necklace of Melancholy (1968, TV, short), Strahovské události/The Strahov Demonstration (1968, short doc), Čas slunce a růží/Time of Sun and Roses (1968, TV, short), Oratorio for Prague (1968, short doc), Proudy lásku odnesou/The Waters Will Wash the Love Away (1969, TV, short), Mezi čtvrtou a pátou minutou/Between Minute 4 and 5 (1972, short doc), Czech Connection (Gedanken über meinen eigenen Tod)/The Czech Connection (1975, TV), Das Rückendekolleté (1975), Die Verwandlung/Metamorphosis (1975, TV), True Stories: Peace in Our Time? (1988, TV doc, co-dir), The Poet Remembers: Czeslaw Milosz (1989, TV doc), V žáru královské lásky/Flames of Royal Love (1991), Ester Krumbachová pohledem Jana Němce (seriál GEN)/Ester Krumbachová Through the Eyes of Jan Němec (series GEN) (1993, TV, short), Zpráva o jednom procesu/Report on a Trial (1993, TV, short doc), Arnošt Lustig pohledem Jana Němce (seriál GEN)/Arnošt Lustig Through the Eyes of Jan Němec (series GEN) (1993, TV, short), Američané v Praze/Americans in Prague (1993, TV, short doc), Fracticide (1993, short), Stalo se na podzim/It Happened One Autumn (1993, TV, short), Jan Hammer pohledem Jana Němce (seriál GEN)/Jan Hammer Through the Eyes of Jan Němec (series GEN) (1994, TV, short), Jméno kódu: Rubín/Code Name: Ruby (1996), Život zpěvačky Marty Kubišové očima Jana Němce (seriál GENUS)/The Life of Singer Marta Kubišová Through the Eyes of Jan Němec (series GENUS) (1996, TV, short), Básník František Listopad/Poet František Listopad (2000, doc), Noční hovory s matkou/Late Night Talks with Mother (2001), Jan Klusák pohledem Jana Němce (seriál GEN)/Jan Klusák Through the Eyes of Jan Němec (series GEN) (2002, TV, short), Krajina mého srdce/Landscape of My Heart (2004), Zapruder 04 (2004, short), Toyen (2005), Srdce nad Hradem/Heart Above the Castle (2007, TV doc), Holka Ferrari Dino/The Ferrari Dino Girl (2009), Heart Beat 3D (2010), 24 (2011, TV doc, segment 21:00 h), Můj proces s TGM (seriál Celnice)/My Trial with Masaryk (series Customs House) (2013, TV, short doc), Vlk z královských Vinohrad/The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street (2016)

Jan Němec op IFFR