Lubomír Beneš
Encyclopedia
Lubomír Beneš was a Czech animator
, director
and author who lived in Roztoky, near Prague. He was married, and had a son and 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.
. Since he was very good at art, his parents paid him private art lessons. There he studied drawing, painting and writing.
. Beneš’s first puppet film I back your pardon (Račte prominout) dates back to 1974. Since then, he directed stop motion
films in the Krátký Film Praha studios. He directed over a hundred short films, mostly puppet animation – many of them for children. He also directed and animated special animated films using cut-out phases.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneš also worked on numerous TV projects for the state channels ČST Praha and ČST Bratislava. His most popular animated series for the ČST were ...A je to! (...And that's it!) (28 episodes, 1979–1985) and Jája a Pája (Yája and Pája) (21 episodes, 1986, 1987, 1995).
episodes in 1992 and 1994. They were highly popular and were broadcast internationally. The animated films made by AIF were also broadcast on BBC One
. Some of them got a number of prizes and awards at international festivals. He directed, produced and wrote animated films in his studio until his death in 1995. His studio fell into bankruptcy
three years later.
, Silver in Odessa
, Silver Mikeldi in Bilbao
. The Record Player (Gramofon) from the TV series ...A je to! won the Prize for the best film for children at the 6th festival in Espinho
. Uneven Fight (Nerovný souboj) won the Main prize in Vancouver
. With a Smile (S úsměvem) won the main prize, Golden Dancer, in Huesca
.
The 38th Pat & Mat
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" by Cinémathèque 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 Pat & Mat
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 the World Animation Celebration in Agoura (CA
), March '97: 1st prize, best animation for a daytime TV series and 2nd prize, best stop motion professional animation.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
and author who lived in Roztoky, near Prague. He was married, and had a son and daughter.
Of all his creations, Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and 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.
Early life
Lubomír Beneš grew up on an outskirt of Prague, in HloubětínHloubetín
Hloubětín can refer to:*Hloubětín - cadastral area of Prague, Czech Republic*Hloubětín - metro station in Prague-Hloubětín, Czech Republic...
. Since he was very good at art, his parents paid him private art lessons. There he studied drawing, painting and writing.
1950s
He began working in animation in the late 1950s in the Animation Studios of Krátký Film Praha. On the basis of a competition he was accepted to the studio of animated films Bratři v Triku after his military service. There he got step by step acquainted to all the techniques of animation.1960s–80s
In 1967 he realized his first film, Homo (Man) in Jiří Trnka StudioJirí Trnka
Jiří Trnka was a Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best known for his work in animation with puppets, which began in 1946...
. Beneš’s first puppet film I back your pardon (Račte prominout) dates back to 1974. Since then, he directed stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
films in the Krátký Film Praha studios. He directed over a hundred short films, mostly puppet animation – many of them for children. He also directed and animated special animated films using cut-out phases.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneš also worked on numerous TV projects for the state channels ČST Praha and ČST Bratislava. His most popular animated series for the ČST were ...A je to! (...And that's it!) (28 episodes, 1979–1985) and Jája a Pája (Yája and Pája) (21 episodes, 1986, 1987, 1995).
1990s
Since 1990 he worked in his own AIF Studio in Prague, which he founded together with his son and other Czech and Slovak animation professionals in 1988. There, he produced and directed 14 new Pat & MatPat & Mat
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat...
episodes in 1992 and 1994. They were highly popular and were broadcast internationally. The animated films made by AIF were also broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. Some of them got a number of prizes and awards at international festivals. He directed, produced and wrote animated films in his studio until his death in 1995. His studio fell into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
three years later.
Awards and prizes
His films got quite a few prizes abroad and at home. The King and the Dwarf (Král a skřítek) won several prizes, including The Silver Carnation in SitgesSitges
*Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla . It houses two Gothic sepulchres , belonging to the an older church located on the same site...
, Silver in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Silver Mikeldi in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
. The Record Player (Gramofon) from the TV series ...A je to! won the Prize for the best film for children at the 6th festival in Espinho
Espinho, Portugal
Espinho is a city in Espinho Municipality in Portugal. It is a reputed beach resort and a zone of legal gambling with a casino - Casino Solverde. Its fair - Feira de Espinho, having been first organised in 1894, is well known in Portugal...
. Uneven Fight (Nerovný souboj) won the Main prize in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. With a Smile (S úsměvem) won the main prize, Golden Dancer, in Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
.
The 38th Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat...
episode, The Cyclists (Cyklisti), animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, participated at the "Annecy '93" (Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
, 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" by Cinémathèque Québécoise
Cinémathèque québécoise
The Cinémathèque québécoise is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1963, its mission is to "preserve and document film and television heritage in order to make it available to an ever-growing and diversified public."...
(Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
), Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
(Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
), Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
), Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
(New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) and presented by these institutions in their autumn '93 show.
The 44th Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat...
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 the World Animation Celebration in Agoura (CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
), March '97: 1st prize, best animation for a daytime TV series and 2nd prize, best stop motion professional animation.
External links
- patandmat.com – Official website of Lubomír Beneš' aiF Studio