Czech Animators Stir Memories of Golden Age With ‘New Wave’ of Rising Talents

The Czech animation industry can point to a century-long legacy that gave rise to internationally recognized talents including Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman, Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Barta, many of whom ushered in a golden age that flourished alongside the Czech New Wave of live-action filmmaking in the 1960s.

Thanks to that rich tradition, along with robust state support, Czech animation is again thriving, with a rising crop of fresh talents pointing to what Oscar-winning filmmaker Daria Kashcheeva heralds as a “new wave” for the storied industry.

Kashcheeva, whose 2020 animated short film “Daughter” won the Student Academy Award and was nominated for Best Animated Short, joins emerging filmmakers like Diana Cam Van Nguyen, who prepped her feature debut “Inbetween Worlds” alongside Kashcheeva at a prestigious Cannes residence, as well as Kristina Dufková, whose feature-length directorial debut, the puppet animation film “Living Large,” premiered in the main competition at Annecy last year.

“The Czech Film Fund really helped create this new wave,” says Kashcheeva, who praised how the state-backed program — now known as the Czech Audiovisual Fund — readies students for professional careers in animation.

“As a student, I was able to [learn] the system — try to work with film funds, try to work with co-productions,” says Kashcheeva. Her graduation film, “Electra” — a co-production with France and Slovakia — premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. “I already understood how [the system] works.”

That support structure has helped Czech animators foster more “collaborative connections with the international industry,” according to Matěj Chlupáček, who produced “Living Large” and is readying Dufková’s follow-up, “Wish It!”

Indeed, the last decade has witnessed a sea change in how Czech animators approach the international market. After “Living Large” was pitched at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, says Chlupáček, the film was scooped up by Goodfellas for international sales while it was still in development, allowing the filmmakers “to be focused more on international stuff, to talk about festival strategies.” As a result, the filmmakers were already planning an international release campaign before a single frame of the stop-motion feature was shot.

Michaela Pavlátová, whose last film, “My Sunny Maad,” won a Cesar Award in France for Best Animated Film, echoes that sentiment, noting how the emerging generation of Czech animators is “very international.”

“They compare themselves with the whole world — not only with the Czech market, or only with Middle Europe or Eastern Europe,” she says. “They aim high.”

This year the Czech Republic introduced a new audiovisual law, with one of its key provisions including a 35% incentive for digital production and animation, alongside a dramatic increase in state funding across the board that will also boost financing for animated projects. 

Pavlátová, who’s currently developing “Night Tram,” a feature film based on her Annecy-winning short “Tram,” expects that to give a boost to the industry, while noting how doors are opening for a generation of rising Czech producers who “see the potential of producing animation.” 

“This is our future,” she says. “They love going to festivals. They love being connected to animators all over the world.”