Jiří Weiss (29 March 1913 – 9 April 2004) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

film director, screenwriter, writer, playwright and pedagogue.

Life

Early life

Jiří Weiss was born to a wealthy Jewish family in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. He was named after Czech king

Jiří z Poděbrad Jiří (; ''YI-RZHEE''), the Czech is a masculine given name, equivalent to English George, may refer to: Given name B * Jiří Antonín Benda * Jiří Baborovský *Jiří Barta * Jiří Bartoška * Jiří Bicek *Jiří Bobok *Jiří Bubla * J ...

. His parents were Emil Weiss (1880–1942) and Martha Weissová (née Fuchsová; 1882–1944). Emil was a liqueur factory owner. Since his youth, Jiří was an ardent communist, which was the source of conflicts with his capitalist parents. He was friends with

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ty ...

's niece Marianne Pollaková and was able read books of then-unknown Kafka in the 1920s. Weiss was interested in studying at film schoolweis, but his parents preferred him to be an attorney. While still in his teens, he left his home and lived with his friend . Weiss worked as a copywriter in advertising. His father, who disagreed with his life choices, had him institutionalized in a mental hospital and Weiss never spoke to him again. In his early twenties, he started working as a copywriter for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

in Prague. At this time, he wrote his first book – a story for children ''O věrné Hadimršce''. He befriended leading intellectuals of the Left Front in Prague, including Vladislav Vančura and

Ivan Olbracht Ivan Olbracht, born Kamil Zeman (6 January 1882, Semily, Bohemia – 20 December 1952, Prague) was a Czech writer, journalist and translator of German prose. Biography The son of writer Antal Stašek and his Jewish-born Catholic convert wife ...

. In 1934, Vančura invited him to be an assistant cinematographer on his movie ''Marijka the Faithless'', based on Olbracht's book.

Filmmaking

Weiss was still determined to become a film director. He borrowed a 16mm camera from and inspired by Soviet filmmakers he made his first amateur film about young people canoeing on

Sázava river Sázava () is the name of a river in Bohemia, Czech Republic, and a number of localities named after the river: *Sázava (river) *Sázava (town), a town in the Central Bohemian Region **Sázava Monastery in Sázava * Sázava (Ústí nad Orlicí Di ...

. Lehovec introduced Weiss to Alexandr Hackenschmied, who helped him edit the film at the Baťa film studios in Zlín. Weiss then sent the film to

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

where it placed 5th best among 72 amateur movies in 1935. He was approached by

Eastman Kodak Company The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

and agreed to exchange the finished film for 900 metres of 35mm film stock. Once again, he borrowed a camera and made a new film with the same theme and the same actors called ''People in the Sun''. He edited the film during nights using the equipment in MGM offices. The film was screened at Kotva cinema in Prague as part of the avant–garde program together with ''

The Blood of a Poet ''The Blood of a Poet'' (french: Le sang d'un poète) (1930) is an avant-garde film directed by Jean Cocteau, financed by Charles de Noailles and starring Enrique Riveros, a Chilean actor who had a successful career in European films. Photograph ...

'' or ''

Un Chien Andalou ''Un Chien Andalou'' (, ''An Andalusian Dog'') is a 1929 French silent short film directed by Luis Buñuel, and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Buñuel's first film, it was initially released in a limited capacity at Studio des Ursulines ...

''. Weiss was praised by local critics and was awarded the 10,000 Kčs from the Film department of Ministry of Commerce. In 1936, he was hired at A-B studio in Prague and as the first assignment he made his first professional film ''Sun Is Shining over Lužnice''. Later that year, he directed a short documentary about aviation ''Give us the Wings'' (). He then apprenticed with directors

Martin Frič Martin Frič (29 March 1902 – 26 August 1968) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He had more than 100 directing credits between 1929 and 1968, including feature films, shorts and documentary films. Throughout his life, Fr ...

and

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962. Life and career Haas was born in ...

and continued to make short documentaries. His frequent collaborators were cameraman Václav Hanuš and composer

Jiří Srnka Jiří Srnka (19 August 1907 – 31 January 1982) was a Czech composer. Biography His teacher was the well known violinist, Otakar Ševčík at the Prague Conservatory from the age of 8. From 1928, he studied at the school of Vítězslav Nová ...

. Weiss was in the middle of editing of the feature-length documentary for the 20 year anniversary of Czechoslovakia called ''Twenty Years of Freedom''. After the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

the film was canceled. In 1939, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, he fled to England with the film material and used the footage to make a documentary ''The Rape of Czechoslovakia'' with the help of

Basil Wright Basil Wright (12 June 1907, Sutton, Surrey – 14 October 1987, Frieth, Buckinghamshire, England) was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher. Biography After leaving Sherborne School, a well known independent sch ...

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Care ...

and

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely ...

. Czech diplomat

Jan Masaryk Jan Garrigue Masaryk (14 September 1886 – 10 March 1948) was a Czech diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948. American journalist John Gunther described Masaryk as "a brave, honest, turbu ...

acquired the funding from his English friends. Weiss volunteered for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

and was assigned to make war documentaries for

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in B ...

. He also worked with the

Czechoslovak Government in exile The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia ( cz, Prozatímní vláda Československa, sk, Dočasná vláda Československa), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechos ...

. In 1942, he wrote a book ''Lost Government''. On March 13, 1943, Weiss and directed a MacNeice's play ''A Town without a Name'' at

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

as a part of the ''London Calling Prague'' event. In 1945, he flew with

No. 311 Squadron RAF No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF was a Czechoslovak-manned bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. It was the RAF's only Czechoslovak-manned medium and heavy bomber squadron. It suffered the heaviest losses of any ...

. He made a documentary about them called ''Night and Day''. At the end of the war, he joined

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...

as a front cameraman to film the liberation of France, Belgium and Netherlands. Weiss was present at the liberation of

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or s ...

. His footage was later used in

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

' film '' Night and Fog''. He achieved the rank of captain in the British Army. Weiss refused the offer to join the US Army and become a combat cameraman in the Pacific War, because he wanted to go back to liberated Czechoslovakia. He returned to Prague on May 13, 1945. All of his family, including his parents, were murdered in the Holocaust. He made his first full-length feature film '' The Stolen Frontier'' in 1947. Weiss, still a devoted communist at this time, turned away from politics during the communist persecutions in the early 1950s. He made his most celebrated movies in the late 1950s and 1960s, including '' Wolf Trap'' (1957), ''

Romeo, Juliet and Darkness ''Romeo, Juliet and Darkness'' ( cs, Romeo, Julie a tma) is a 1960 Czech drama film directed by Jiří Weiss. Inspired by William Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'',Howard, Tony "Shakespeare's Cinematic Offshoots" in Shaughnessy, Robert (ed.) " ...

'' (1959) and Czechoslovak-British co-production ''

Ninety Degrees in the Shade ''Ninety Degrees in the Shade'' ( cs, Třicet jedna ve stínu) is a 1965 British-Czech drama film directed by Jiří Weiss. Plot It's very hot, putting a strain on everyone. A beautiful woman works in a shop in Czechoslovakia during the Commun ...

'' (1965). After the Warsaw Pact invasion, Weiss left Czechoslovakia and lived in West Berlin, where he taught at a film school. Later he moved to the United States. There he taught film first at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also adm ...

in New York and later at

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

. He became an American citizen in 1986. He still continued to write screenplays, but none of them were produced. During this time, he also wrote two plays – ''The Jewish War'' (1986) and ''Berenice'' (1990). In 1991, he managed to get funding and made his last film '' Martha and I''. The film entered in competition at

47th Venice International Film Festival The 47th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 4 to 14 September 1990. Jury The following people comprised the 1990 jury: *Gore Vidal: head of jury *María Luisa Bemberg *Edoardo Bruno *Gilles Jacob *Kira Muratova *Omar Sharif ...

. In 1985, he met

Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (; born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for the films '' Citizen Ruth'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), '' About Schmidt'' (2002), '' Sideways'' (2004), '' The ...

, then a young film student, and became his life-long friend and mentor. In 1995, Weiss wrote a book of memoirs ''Bílý Mercedes''.

Personal life

Weiss was married three times. He had two children with his first wife – a daughter Jiřina and a son Jiří. He died in Santa Monica in 2004 and is buried at New Jewish Cemetery in Prague.

Selected filmography

Feature films

* '' The Stolen Frontier'' (1947) * ''

Dravci Dravci () is a settlement on the right bank of the Drava River at its confluence with the Dravinja in the Municipality of Videm in eastern Slovenia. The area traditionally belonged to the Styria region. It is now included in the Drava Statistica ...

'' (1948) * ''

The Last Shot ''The Last Shot'' is a 2004 American action comedy film starring Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette, Calista Flockhart, Ray Liotta, Tim Blake Nelson, James Rebhorn and Tony Shalhoub. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nathanson, ...

'' (1950) * ''New Warriors Will Arise'' (1950) * ''My Friend the Gipsy'' (1953) * ''Doggy and the Four'' (1954) * ''Life Is at Stake'' (1956) * '' Wolf Trap'' (1957) * '' Appassionata'' (1959) * ''

'' (1959) * '' The Coward'' (1961) * '' Golden Fern'' (1963) * ''

'' (1965) * ''Murder Czech Style'' (1967) * '' Martha and I'' (1991)

Documentaries

* ''People in the Sun'' (1935) * ''Sun Is Shining over Lužnice'' (1936) * ''Give us the Wings'' (1936) * ''Sea of Air'' (1937) * ''A Song About Carpathian Ruthenia'' (1937) * ''The Illusion Factory'' (1938) * ''Journey from the Shadows'' (1938) * ''The Rape of Czechoslovakia'' (1939) – Lyrical documentary about pre-WWII Czechoslovakia and Nazi invasion. Narrated by

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

. * ''Secret Allies '' (1939) * ''Eternal Prague'' (1940) * ''Home Front'' (1941) * ''100 Million Women'' (1942) * ''The Other RAF'' (1942) * ''Fighter Pilot'' (1943) * ''Before the Raid'' (1943) – Docudrama about Norwegian fishermen resistance members. Written by

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...

. * ''Night and Day'' (1945) – Documentary about

* ''We Will Remain Faithful'' (1945) * ''Song about Slet'' (1948) – Two-part documentary about

Sokol The Sokol movement (, ''falcon'') is an all-age gymnastics organization first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of " a strong mind in a ...

XI slet festival

Awards and nominations

'' Wolf Trap'' (1957) - 19th Venice International Film Festival *Won: FIPRESCI Award *Won: New Cinema Award *Nominated: Golden Lion '' Golden Fern'' (1963) -

24th Venice International Film Festival The 24th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 24 August to 7 September 1963. Jury * Arturo Lanocita (Italy) (head of jury) * Sergei Gerasimov (Soviet Union) * Lewis Jacobs (USA) * Hidemi Kon (Japan) * Claude Mauriac (Fra ...

*Nominated: Golden Lion '' Martha and I'' (1991) -

*Nominated: Golden Lion

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

'' (1965) -

15th Berlin International Film Festival The 15th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 25 June to 6 July 1965. The festival started selecting the jury members on its own rather than countries sending designated representatives. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Fren ...

*Won: UNICRIT Award San Sebastian International Film Festival ''

'' (1959) *Won:

Golden Shell The Golden Shell ( es, Concha de Oro; eu, Urrezko Maskorra) is the highest prize given to a competing film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, San Sebastián Film Festival. It was introduced in 1957. In 1953 and 1954, the highest p ...

''Murder Czech Style'' (1967) *Won: Silver Shell

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

'' (1965) -

23rd Golden Globe Awards The 23rd Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1965, were held on 28 February 1966. Winners and nominees Film Best Film - Drama '' Doctor Zhivago'' *''The Collector'' *'' The Flight of the Phoenix'' *''A Patch of Bl ...

* Nominated: Best English-Language Foreign Film

Bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

* * * *
100 Million Women (1942)
on

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

website
Fighter Pilot (1943)
on

website
Night and Day (1945)
on

website
A recorded interview with Jiří weiss about his RAF films
-

, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Jiri 1913 births 2004 deaths Czechoslovak film directors Czech film directors Czech screenwriters Male screenwriters Czech male writers Czech documentary filmmakers Czech dramatists and playwrights Czech children's writers Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish Czech writers Czech Jews Czechoslovak Jews Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Czechoslovak emigrants to Germany Hunter College faculty University of California, Santa Barbara faculty 20th-century screenwriters