IAC logo

The world of non-commercial film and A-V

Events Diary Search
The Film and Video Institute find us on facebook Join us on Facebook

  Biography | Awards | Detailed analysis of Mijeni (Passing By)

Olga Špátová - director of Mijeni (Passing)

Biography

Portrait of Olga Spatova.Olga Špátová was born 3rd June 1984 in Prague, in the Czech Republic. Her parents are Jan Spata, probably the most famous Czech documentary director, and Olga Sommerova, who is equally famous as a film maker and for many years headed the Department of Documentary Production at Prague's FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts).

By the time she was 14 years old she had finished elementary school and gone on to concentrate on foreign languages. Since her pleas for a film camera were unheeded by her mother, she sent a script  to Czech TV.  It was accepted and she made one 15 minute part of a TV series called EGO which featured a group of her schoolmates, including her best friend, Lucie Pechová.  It was, she says "all about love." Her reward was a Hi8 camcorder.

She and her friends went on making movies. Some time later she and Lucie started to make short films in which they were both actresses and camerawomen. Among their films were Svatba (Wedding) based on a story by Anton Chekhov, Kávová spolecnost (Coffee Society) from a story by the Czech writer Bozena Nemcová, Cekání na Godota (Waiting for Godot) by Samuel Beckett and a parody Neco z Prodané nevesty (Something from the Given Bride).

Olga graduated from High School in the field of promotional graphics. Her ambition is to go to film school - she has tried the entrance examination three times so far. They have, so far, turned her down because she was too young. She made the drama Sama (Alone) based on a scenario of her own with elements of a story by Guy de Maupassant, and one year later Míjení (Passing By).

In 2003/2004 she completed her English language course at the J.A. Komenský Academy, where she got the EU Certificate. Deciding to bypass film school for the moment, she joined Czech television and made a documentary film Trojhra (The Three Games) which described the different values of three generations of women in one family. Occasionally she works with other directors as a camerawoman but recently finished a new film of her own, Ochocená (Domesticated), and she intends to be fully involved in film and theatre direction in the future.


Film Awards

Kávová spolecnost (Coffee Society) 2001
  • The F.M. Fencls Endowment Fund Prize
  • Recognition (The Rychnovs Eight Contest)
Cekání na Godota (Waiting for Godot) 2002
  • The 3rd Prize (The Amateur Film Festival, Hradec Králové)
Sama (Alone) 2002
  • 1st Prize (The Amateur Film Festival, Hradec Králové)
  • 1st Prize (The Nonprofessional Film Contest at Svitavy)
  • A Gold Medal in the Jeunesse Category (UNICA Warsaw 2002)
  • Recognition (The Brno Sixteen Contest)
  • 7th Prize(Grand Prix Lichtenstein)
  • The Main Prize for the Youth Film (The Window to East Festival, Berlin)
  • The Gold Flame (The International Festival of Short Films, Tallin - Estonia)
Míjení (Passing By) 2003
  • A Gold Medal and 1st Prize in the Jeunesse Category plus 3rd Prize in the Audience vote (UNICA Veitshochheim 2003)
  • The Grand Prix (The International Amateur film contest, Polanica Zdroj, Poland)
  • 2nd Prize (The International Festival of Short Films, Tallin - Estonia)
  • 1st prize - The Daily Mail Challenge Trophy, (British International Amateur Film Festival 2005)
  • Golden Bear, Best Youth Entry and Audience Award (Festival of Nations, Ebensee 2005)
Trojhra (The Three Games) 2004
  • The Main Prize (The Festival of Documentary Films, Ústí nad Orlicí)


On Míjení

Click here to read a detailed analysis of Míjení (Passing By)


Share your passions.

Audience silhouette.

Share your stories.

Page updated on 16 January 2011
Contact Webmaster
Data Privacy
find us on facebook Join us on Facebook
Bookmark and Share
UNICA information UNICA member
Company Limited by Guarantee No. 00269085. Registered Charity No. 260467. Authors' views are not necessarily those of the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers. Website hosted by Merula. JavaScripts by JavaScript Source. Menu by Live Web Institute. Art work by Tony Kendle.