Jiří Barta

For the composer and pianist, see Jiří Bárta.

Jiří Barta
Born	(1948-11-26) 26 November 1948 Prague, Czechoslovakia
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter

Jiří Barta (born 26 November 1948) is a Czech stop-motion animation director. His films, many of which used the medium of wood for animation, garnered critical acclaim and won many awards, but after the fall of the communist government in Czechoslovakia he was unable to release anything for about 15 years (a situation similar to that faced by Russian animator Yuri Norstein). Throughout the 1990s he tried to find funding for a feature film called The Golem, but has thus far only managed to complete a short pilot film, released in 1993, though work on the feature is ongoing as of 2014. In 2007 he released his first computer-animated short film, and on March 5, 2009 he released a new puppet-animated feature film which was geared more towards a children's audience.

Biography

Jiří Barta was born in Prague and all important chapters of his life are connected with this town. In 1969 he began studying Film and TV Graphics at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He made the first animated film in 1978 in Jiří Trnka's Studio. He made some excellent films for which he won a number of festival awards in the 1980s. The Pied Piper was probably the best of Bart's works. Since the 1980s, he has been considered a master of creative animation. The latest project was the work on a full-length film, Na půdě. The focus of Bart's activity moved to pedagogical work in the early 1990s. At the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague he leads the Film and TV Graphics Studio. He was appointed as Associate Professor in 1993 and Professor in 2001. In addition to teaching, he collaborates with theater and film projects.

Filmography

Feature films

• The Pied Piper (Krysař, 1986)
• Toys in the Attic (Na půdě aneb Kdo má dneska narozeniny?, 2009)
• The Golem (TBA)

Short films

• Riddles for a Candy (Hádanky za bonbón, 1978)
• The Design (Projekt, 1981)
• Disc Jockey (Diskzokej, 1981)
• The Vanished World of Gloves (Zaniklý svět rukavic, 1982)
• A Ballad About Green Wood (Balada o zeleném dřevu, 1983)
• The Last Theft (Poslední lup, 1987)
• The Club of the Laid Off (Klub odlozenych, 1989)
• Golem (1993)
• Cook, Mug, Cook! (Domečku, vař!, 2007)
• Yuki Onna (2013)

External links

• Jiří Barta at IMDb
• Interview with Barta concerning The Golem
• Overview of The Pied Piper of Hameln
• Collection of clips from his films (also the "trailer" for The Golem)
• Official site for "In the Attic"
• Production company site for "In the Attic"
• Variety review of "In the Attic"