Marie Benešová

Marie Benešová was born on March 6, 1916 in Prague. She studied theatre and aesthetic studies under the leadership of Professor Mukařovský at the Filosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague. She had also studied film dramaturgy at the Film and Television Faculty (FAMU). In 1952 after graduation from university, she started to work as an editor at the press department of the Czechoslovak State Film, later since 1959 at the Czechoslovak Film Export. In 1963 she became the head of film research work group of the Czechoslovak Film Institute. She was a member of many international festival juries (Espinho, Gion, Kalkata, Varna) and an active participant in UNESCO and UNICEF meetings. She was the chairman of the CIFEJ national centre. Since 1996 she had worked at the National Film Archives in Prague, doing research on film production in the Czech lands during the Protectorate. Marie Benešová died on August 6, 2003 in Prague.

Marie Benešová was one of the most outstanding experts in the field of theory and historiography of Czechoslovak animated film. For many years she had led a research focused on animated film production for children. She is the author of key monographs on Czech animation personalities like Jiří Trnka and others - From the Dowel to the Midsummer Night’s Dream (1960), Hermína Týrlová (1982); Karel Zeman (1985); Břetislav Pojar (1985). Her observations went far beyond the usual range of reflections of a film theorist; they were always well informed and supported by empirical experience. Her great analytical works like The Child and Films (1967), Man's Image in Czech Cinematography (1969), A Film as a Sign System (1971), Films pour les enfants et la jeunesse (1973), Chapters from the History of Czech Animated Films (with Jaroslav Boček as co-author, 1979), The History of Animated Films (with Rudolf Urc, 1995) have become an essential part of every serious piece of research. She had contributed to international research mainly concentrated on children’s aesthetical perception of the film image. She was present at the birth of the Biennial of Animation Bratislava (BAB), her considerable knowledge and enthusiasm helped to shape its form and conception.