Jan Zajíček Explained

Jan Zajíček
Birth Date:4 March 1977
Birth Place:Prague, Czechoslovakia
Nationality:Czech
Alma Mater:Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Occupation:film director, screenwriter

Jan Zajíček (born 4 March 1977) is a Czech film director, screenwriter and artist.

Early life

Jan Zajíček was born on 4 March 1977 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He studied fine art at the Václav Hollar School of Art and film directing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). In 1992, he began to create graffiti art, one of the earliest graffiti artists in Czechoslovakia (under the pseudonym "Scarf" or "Skarf"). His experience with graffiti later influenced his strongly visual cinematic style, characterised by its combination of live-action with animation and visual effects.[1] Between 1993 and 2000, he was a member of the Czech hip hop group WWW,[2] which played in Prague venues including Alterna Komotovka, RC Bunkr, ROXY, and Rock Café, and in 1996 supported Sinéad O'Connor. During his studies and after graduation, he was a lecturer of experimental audio-visual production at the Josef Škvorecký Literary Academy.[2] Since 2010, he has been a resident at the MeetFactory Contemporary Art Centre.

Career

Music videos

Zajíček has directed several award winning music videos. His first video, for the song "Známka punku" (The Sign of Punk) by the Czech punk band Visací zámek,[3] was named Best Music Video of the Year by the Czech Music Academy.[2] [4] Other videos that received attention included "Days Will Never Be the Same",[5] and "Meleme, meleme kávu" (Grinding the Coffee) by Czech hip hop artists Hugo Toxxx and Vladimir 518,[6] which received Filter magazine's award for Best Music Video of the Year,[7] and was selected by the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen for screening during its MuVi programme in 2010.[8]

Theatre and stage design

From 2004 to 2013, Zajíček worked as a director and animator with several theatre groups, including Theatre XXL, VerTeDance, the National Theatre and the State Opera. In 2012, he created video content for the 60 metre screen at the Czech House for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. Along with Tomáš Mašín, he was also the co-director of Czech rock band Lucie's 2014 concert tour.[2]

Film

In 2003, Zajíček produced a short experimental student film, The End of the Individual (cs|Konec jedince), a study of the social structure of society on a model of one's own death. The film is a combination of 3D animation and live-action with a non-linear narrative. The film received several awards and was received positively internationally.[9] In 2010, he created the short video montage Polys and contributed to the Czech pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.[10] [11]

He has also directed several commercials (for General Electric, ING, Nike, Skoda Auto, Kia Motors) and co-edited several documentaries. In 2011, he edited a documentary about the impact of corporate psychopaths upon society, and how the overuse of anti-depressants can result in erratic behavior; entitled I Am Fishead, it featured Peter Coyote, Philip Zimbardo, Václav Havel, Nicholas Christakis, Robert D. Hare and Christopher J. Lane.[12] He was a co-creator (with rapper Vladimir 518) of the Czech TV documentary series Kmeny (Tribes), about urban subcultures,[13] [14] and in 2015, he wrote and directed the show's episode about hackers.[15] [16] [17] [18] In 2016, he wrote and co-directed (with the female Czech graffiti artist Sany) a documentary about female graffiti entitled Girl Power,[19] [20] the first documentary on this topic.[21] It starred Martha Cooper, Lady Pink, and others, and was screened at cinemas and festivals all around the globe.

Awards

Work

Direction and screenwriting filmography

Music videos

Edit

Theatre performances (cooperation)

Festivals and exhibitions

Literature

References

  1. Web site: Street Art in Prague. Ratner. Paul. 1 November 2010. expats.cz. 26 April 2017.
  2. Web site: BiggBoss: Jan Zajíček. cs.
  3. Ondřej Bezr: Visací zámek se vrací, tentokrát nabízí Klasiku. Poslouchejte, dívejte se 19 October 2010
  4. Honza Vedral: Nejlepší klip roku? Pusinka na prdel akademiků 28 February 2007
  5. Honza Vedral: Ceny Filteru ovládl raper Vladimir 518, večer věnoval zesnulému Kaplickému 15 January 2009
  6. http://www.lidovky.cz/hugo-toxxx-a-vladimir-518-za-zrcadlem-aneb-alenka-tam-nebyla-sama-pbt-/kultura.aspx?c=A090707_141001_ln_kultura_jk Hugo Toxxx a Vladimir 518 za zrcadlem aneb Alenka tam nebyla sama
  7. News: FILTER prosinec 2009. issuu. 2016-12-02. cs.
  8. https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/fileadmin/Kurzfilmtage/Kurzfilmtage_2010/download_katalog/56kurzfilmtage_katalog.pdf 56. Internationale Kurzfilmtage: Meleme meleme kávu
  9. Web site: International Film Festival Oberhausen: Konec.
  10. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010expo/2010-05/31/content_9912868.htm Czech artists aim to put their writing on the wall
  11. Eliška Dokulilová: Z prvních českých writerů jsou dnes úspěšní umělci, Češi přitom graffiti stále nechápou, říká režisér Jan Zajíček. 7 March 2016
  12. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/i-am-fishead-are-corporate-leaders-psychopaths/ I Am Fishead: Are Corporate Leaders Psychopaths?
  13. http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10727240820-kmeny/214562260850007-hackeri/ Česká televize - Kmeny: Hackeři
  14. Honza Vedral: Pankáči ani hackeři nejsou v TV cyklu Kmeny potěrem v akváriu exotů. 20 February 2015
  15. http://kmeny.tv/hackeri/ Kmeny.tv: Hackeři
  16. http://www.fullmoonzine.cz/pruvodce-mestskymi-kmeny-hackeri Průvodce městskými kmeny: Hackeři
  17. Zdeněk Malinský: Versus: Kmeny (Hackeři) 17 June 2015
  18. http://www.lidovky.cz/romantika-elektraren-aneb-hackeri-jako-vecni-hracickove-pjl-/kultura.aspx?c=A150610_101617_ln_kultura_hep Romantika elektráren aneb Hackeři jako věční hračičkové
  19. Diane Wong: Documentaries on Graffiti Culture you MUST Watch 5 April 2016
  20. http://tracks.arte.tv/de/braucht-man-fuer-graffiti-etwa-einen-penis-die-streetart-doku-girl-power-beweist-das-gegenteil Braucht man fuer Graffiti etwa einen Penis? Die Streetart-Doku 'Girl Power' beweist das Gegenteil
  21. Michael Segalov: Celebrating female graffiti artists around the world 28 November 2016
  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg7xv6adtmI Kmeny.tv 14/16: Hackeři
  23. http://www.girlpowermovie.com/en Girl Power official website
  24. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2856738/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1 I Am Fishead
  25. http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/en/show/5871 Krabat - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Čarodějův učeň)
  26. http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=833 Brooklyn Film Festival 2008: Days Will Never Be the Same
  27. http://www.pechakucha.cz/#267 PechaKucha Night Prague
  28. http://www.dox.cz/en/exhibitions/metropolis-cryptic-257-masker-pasta-point-skarf-tron Metropolis - Cryptic 257, Masker, Pasta, Point, Skarf, Tron
  29. http://www.afo.cz/index.php?seo_url=db-filmu&film_id=2572 AFO Academia Film Olomouc: Kmeny: Tribes: Hackers
  30. Web site: Girl Power. One World Film Festival. 2024-11-24.
  31. http://london.czechcentres.cz/programme/travel-events/girl-power/ Girl Power at Red Gallery London
  32. http://unerhoert-filmfest.de/index.php/site/preise/deutsch/ Mali Blues & Girl Power gewinnen den Preis
  33. Web site: 29th Helsinki International Film Festival: Girl Power . 2016-12-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161202101241/http://hiff.fi/en/elokuvat/girl-power/ . 2016-12-02 . dead .
  34. http://www.86.org.ua/en/girl-power/ International Film Festival 86 Slavutych: Girl Power
  35. https://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/events/girl-power-australian-premiere Girl Power: Australian premiere

External links

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