| Cinema of the Czech Republic | |
|---|---|
 Kino Světozor in Prague | |
| No. of screens | 668 (2011)[1] |
| • Per capita | 6.9 per 100,000 (2011)[1] |
| Main distributors | Bontonfilm 34.0% Falcon 31.0% Warner Bros. 14.0%[2] |
| Produced feature films (2011)[3] | |
| Fictional | 23 (51.1%) |
| Animated | 2 (4.4%) |
| Documentary | 20 (44.4%) |
| Number of admissions (2011)[5] | |
| Total | 10,789,760 |
| • Per capita | 1.06 (2012)[4] |
| National films | 3,077,585 (28.5%) |
| Gross box office (2011)[5] | |
| Total | CZK 1.21 billion |
| National films | CZK 301 million (24.9%) |
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Czech cinema comprises the cinema of Czech Republic as well as cinema of Austrian-Hungarian Empire or Slovakia and Germany, while this country was a part of other countries. Some early findings enabling the birth of cinematography were made by Czech scientists in the 19th century (such as Jan Evangelista Purkyně).
The earliest Czech cinema began in 1898 with Jan Kříženecký, later major contributions were made by interwar directors such as Karel Lamač and Martin Frič, with Barrandov Studios founded in 1933. During WWII, filmmakers like Otakar Vávra continued working despite Nazi occupation.
In the Post-war period, the industry was nationalized, with The Proud Princess (1952) becoming a record hit. The 1958 film The Fabulous World of Jules Verne is considered the most internationally successful Czech film ever made; soon after its release it was distributed to 72 countries and received widespread attention.[6] Domestically, the most viewed Czech film ever is The Proud Princess from 1952, which was seen by 8 million people.[7][8]
The 1960s saw the Czechoslovak New Wave emerge, featuring directors Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel. The 1970s–80s focused on comedies and family films. In the 1990s, Marketa Lazarová was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a poll of Czech film critics and publicists.
- ^ a b "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Country Profiles". Europa Cinemas. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Vynález zkázy je nejúspěšnější český film všech dob. V New Yorku ho promítalo 96 kin současně". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 19 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ "Pyšná princezna (1952)".