David Ondříček

Born

1969-06-23

Birthplace

Prague, Czechoslovakia

Biography

Director, screenwriter and producer, one of the most distinctive post-revolution Czech directors. He debuted with the film Whisper (Šeptej, 1996) followed by Loners (Samotáři, 2000), which was produced by his own company Lucky Man Films. Next came the comedy One Hand Can't Clap (Jedna ruka netleská, 2003) and the film Grandhotel (2006), which premiered at the Berlinale film festival. His film In the Shadow (Ve stínu, 2012) took all of the main awards at the Czech Film Critics’ Awards and at the annual Czech Lion Awards, and was the Czech Republic’s nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2013, David Ondříček received Variety magazine’s 10 Directors to Watch award, which recognizes the most noteworthy directors of the previous year. His recent film Zátopek (2021) was also selected as Czech Republic entry for the Oscars 2022.