Vávra taught new wave pioneers

Legendary Czech film director Otakar Vávra celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday. He was born on February 28, 1911 in Hradec Králové, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He directed his first feature film in 1937 with his film a year later, The Virgins' Club, winning a Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. He continued making films during the Nazi occupation and after the Communists seized power in 1948. In the 1950’s he helped found the Film Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), where he taught for over five decades. Many of his students were in the forefront of the Czech new wave. Some of his best films were judged to have been shot in the 1960’s.