Břetislav Pojar
Biography
Břetislav Pojar was born on October 7, 1923 in Sušice. After completing secondary school he joined a special effects film studio where he worked as a draughtsman and colourist. In 1945 he started to work in a newly established studio, Bratři v triku, as an animator of cartoon films by Jiří Trnka (Grandpa Planted A Beet, The Animals and the Brigands, A Gift, The Springman and the SS), later also engaged in puppet films (Bayaya, Prairie Arias, Czech Old Tales, The Good Soldier Švejk, Midsummer Night’s Dream). In 1951, at the same time as his debut in puppet films appeared, he tried his hand at directing documentary films (Josef Mánes). His first important puppet film was One More Glass from 1954. After a successful attempt at a feature film (Adventure in Golden Bay - 1955) and after a documentary film (A Feast Day - 1957), he began to devote systematically to direction of animated films and he also contributed as an artist to some of them. His films have won high awards and recognition at Cannes, Venice, Annecy, Locarno, Montevideo, Bergamo, Oberhausen, Vancouver, Cork and elsewhere. Břetislav Pojar died on October 12, 2012 in Prague.
Illustration Features
Břetislav Pojar – director, scriptwriter, animated film artist and professor. Ever since his film One More Glass he has ranked among the foremost European makers of animated films. Diversity is a characteristic feature of Pojar's work - diversity of themes, genres, artistic styles and even of audience. In spite of this, his work is homogeneous. The unifying element is the sophisticated style designed for an emotionally effective expression of his ideas. This is the reason for Pojar's search, his constant trying out of new forms and new means of expression. Pojar has made use of different kinds of puppets, classical 3D, flat, relief and other ones, depending on what means of expression and kind of acting were needed to express the ideas. As an animator he has been aware of the associative strength of gesture, the evocative power of movement. It is a restlessness that has often led the artist to experiments shifting his works beyond the boundaries of animated film.