Karel Zeman

Directing

Biography

Karel Zeman was a brilliant pioneer of special effects in film. Despite his artistic talent, his parents insisted he study business. At the age of 17, he went to Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, where he studied advertising design. In 1943, the film director Elmar Klos offered him a job at the Bata Film Studios. Zeman often had to struggle against difficult conditions in the technically ill-equipped Kudlov Studios. Many of the workers with whom he started had no particular experience of filming. They, like Zeman himself, had to learn everything on the job. Journey to the Beginning of Time, released in 1955, became Zeman's breakthrough film, his first to combine live action, animation and puppetry. Four years later, Invention for Destruction saw him shoot to world-wide success. Zeman continued to develop his highly successful use of special effects in The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and the two Jules Verne adaptations that followed. In the 70's, Zeman returned to making strictly animated films. In the late 70's Zeman was threatened with the loss of his sight, but he overcame the disease and continued working. In the final stages of his life he suffered from heart problems.

Filmography Movies

Acting

MOVIE

Karel Zeman for Children

6.5(0.0K)

Seventy-year-old filmmaker Karel Zeman recapitulated his thirty years of work in the field of animated and trick films. The film Karel Zeman for Children includes excerpts from Baron Prášil, The Tale of Hansel and Gretel, Mr. Prokouk, King Lávra and Journey to the Prehistoric Times. The film is presented on the 100th anniversary of the birth of this important figure of Czech cinema.

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Karel Zeman for Children

Self

MOVIE

Inspiration

6.9(0.0K)

A glass blower imagines that his creations come to life. A story of love contained within a single drop of rain. A voyage into ethereal beauty.

Film Adventurer Karel Zeman

7.5(0.0K)

A look at the life, work and importance of Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman (1910-89), a genius of world cinema, a wizard of special effects, revealing his sources of inspiration and his revolutionary filming techniques.

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Film Adventurer Karel Zeman

Self (archive footage)

Production

MOVIE

The Treasure of Bird Island

7.3(0.0K)

People living on an island finds a treasure, but it does not only do them good.

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The Treasure of Bird Island

Animation

MOVIE

Mr. Prokouk, The Acrobat

Set Decoration

MOVIE

Mr. Prokouk, The Acrobat

Writer

MOVIE

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

7.3(0.0K)

Krabat, a beggar boy, is lured to become an apprentice to an evil, one-eyed sorcerer. With a number of other boys, he works at the sorcerer's mill while learning black magic. Every Christmas one of the boys has to face the master in a magical duel, where the boy never stands a chance because the master is the only person who is allowed to use a secret spell: The Koraktor.

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Director

MOVIE

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

7.3(0.0K)

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Screenplay

MOVIE

Journey to the Beginning of Time

7.2(0.1K)

Four schoolboys go on an awe-inspiring expedition back through time, where they behold landscapes and creatures that have long since vanished from the earth.

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Journey to the Beginning of Time

Screenplay

MOVIE

Journey to the Beginning of Time

7.2(0.1K)

Four schoolboys go on an awe-inspiring expedition back through time, where they behold landscapes and creatures that have long since vanished from the earth.

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Journey to the Beginning of Time

Director

MOVIE

Mr. Prokouk, The Inventor

6.4(0.0K)

After a hard day at work, Mr. Prokouk decides to invent a machine to ease his labor. But inventing is work too, and Mr. Prokouk spends more time dreaming about inventions than actually inventing anything. Can he find an easy solution?

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Mr. Prokouk, The Inventor

Screenplay

MOVIE

Mr. Prokouk, The Filmmaker

5.9(0.0K)

Shortfilm from the Mr. Prokouk series. Mr. Prokouk wants to be a filmmaker, but the making of a film has more complications than he expected.

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Mr. Prokouk, The Filmmaker

Screenplay

MOVIE

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

7.4(0.1K)

A 20th century man lands on the Moon and discovers that Baron Munchausen has beaten him to it, accompanied by Cyrano de Bergerac and the characters from Jules Verne's novels about the conquest of the satellite.

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The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

Director