EP7: Actor-director Jiří Mádl

Jiří Mádl has been one of the Czech Republic’s most recognisable young film stars since the mid-2000s, when he shot to fame with massive teen movies. But Mádl is also an accomplished writer and director, winning plaudits for the sensitive low-budget drama To See the Sea (made when he was still in his mid 20s) and On the Roof, one of the country’s films of the year in 2019.

In this broad-ranging conversation Mádl (34), discusses his beginnings on screen, why New York was the ideal place for him to study film, directing actors many decades his senior – and a planned project centred on one of the most dramatic moments in modern Czech history.

Czech Next Wave is produced jointly by the Czech Centres network and Radio Prague International. It introduces listeners around the world to emerging, exciting and highly talented young Czech in various areas of the arts and beyond.