- Lubomír Beneš
Lubomír Beneš (
November 7 ,1935 inPrague –September 12 ,1995 ) was a Czech animator, director and author living inRoztoky , nearPrague . Married, a son and a daughter.Of all his creations, "
Pat & Mat " – with first film "The Tinkers (Kuťáci)", 1976 – has reached the highest international acclaim. The series comprises short episodes about two highly inventive, yet incredibly clumsy neighbors.1960–80s
About ten years later, in 1967, he realized his first film "Homo (Man)" in
Jiří Trnka 's Studio. Since this debut he directed over a hundred short films, mostly puppet animations – many of them for children.During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneš worked also on numerous TV projects, for the state channel ČST.
His films got quite a few prizes abroad and at home. Alone "The King and the Dwarf (Král a skřítek)" got about ten of them – e.g. Silver Carnation in
Sitges , Silver inOdessa , Silver Mikeldi inBilbao . For the "Record Player (Gramofon)" from the TV series "Pat & Mat /...and that's it! (Pat a Mat /…a je to!)" there was the Prize for the best film for children at the 6th festival inEspinho . For "Uneven Fight (Nerovný souboj)" the Main prize inVancouver . For "With a Smile (S úsměvem)" the main prize Golden Dancer inHuesca .1990s
Since 1990 he worked in his own
AIF Studio in Prague and Zurich, which he founded together with his son and other Czech and Slovak animation professionals. Next to commission work, they produced 14 latest "Pat & Mat" episodes, some of them got a number of prizes and awards at international festivals.The 38th episode "The Cyclists (Cyklisti)", animated by
Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly , participated at the "Annecy '93" (Annecy , France) animation festival competition, and has been invited to a number of other world festivals. "The Cyclists" has also been included in the selection "The Best of Annecy '93" byCinémathèque Québécoise (Montreal ),Museum of Fine Arts (Boston ),Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley),Museum of Modern Art (New York ) and presented by these institutions in their autumn '93 show.The 44th episode "The Billiards (Kulečník)", animated by
František Váša , has been selected for the "Annecy '95" competition, and invited to almost all other world film festivals. "The Billiards" has got two prizes at theWorld Animation Celebration inAgoura (CA), March '97: 1st prize, best animation for a daytime TV series and 2nd prize, best stop motion professional animation.External links
* [http://patandmat.com patandmat.com] – Official website of Lubomír Beneš' Pat & Mat series
*imdb name|0070904
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