Havel and Forman team up for Munich film

Two giants of Czech culture, playwright Václav Havel and film director Miloš Forman, are working together on a film about the Munich Agreement of 1938, under which the United Kingdom and France allowed Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia. Mladá fronta Dnes reported that the film is based on a novel by Georges-Marc Benamou entitled The Ghost of Munich; it describes the Munich conference from the point of view of former French prime minister Edouard Daladier. A Czech translation of the book with a foreword by Mr Havel is being released next week.

After leading the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Václav Havel became president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. Miloš Forman is perhaps the most successful Czech film director, with best director Academy Awards for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.