Ivan Passer

Ivan Passer

Born: July 10, 1933
Died: January 9, 2020
in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]
Ivan Passer (10 July 1933 – 9 January 2020) was a Czech film director and screenwriter, best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as Born to Win (1971), Cutter's Way (1981) and Stalin (1992).

Passer was born in Prague, the son of Marianna (Mandelick) and Alois Passer. Passer attended King George boarding school in Poděbrady with future filmmakers Miloš Forman, Jerzy Skolimowski and Paul Fierlinger and statesman Václav Havel. He then studied at FAMU in Prague, but did not finish the course. He began his career as an assistant director on Ladislav Helge's Velká samota.

Later he collaborated with his friend Forman on all of Forman's Czech films, including Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen's Ball (1967), both of which Passer co-wrote and which were nominated for Academy Awards. He introduced Forman to cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček whom he knew from Velká samota. He then directed his first feature, Intimate Lighting, which was released in 1965 and is considered by some to be Passer's masterpiece.

In 1969, after the Warsaw Pact invasion, Passer and Forman left Czechoslovakia together. Both proceeded to the United States, with Forman becoming an Academy Award-winning filmmaker. Passer went on to make several prominent American films such as Born to Win (1971), a junkie drama starring George Segal and Karen Black, and Cutter's Way (1981), a dramatic thriller starring Jeff Bridges and John Heard.

Though best known for his idiosyncratic, often gritty dramas, he also directed comedies such as Silver Bears (1978) starring Michael Caine and Creator (1985) starring Peter O'Toole. Later in his career, he directed numerous films for television, most notably the award-winning biopic Stalin (1992) starring Robert Duvall for HBO. He was also a film professor at the University of Southern California.

Passer died on January 9, 2020 from pulmonary complications in Reno, Nevada. He was 86 years old.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Ivan Passer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Ivan Passer...

CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
Title: CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
Character: Self
Released: September 16, 2018
Type: Movie
An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.
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Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond
Title: Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond
Character: Self
Released: May 13, 2016
Type: Movie
A very special encounter between legendary American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and young French director Pierre Filmon. A personal journey with the brightest shadowmaker and his friends.
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Miloš Forman
Title: Miloš Forman
Character: Self
Released: September 6, 2010
Type: Movie
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Title: Golden Sixties
Character: Self
Released: January 3, 2009
Type: TV
Television series Golden Sixties examines new insights into Czech and Slovak cinema of the 1960s and the role of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Each episode focuses on a different filmmaker.
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TVTV Looks at the Oscars
Title: TVTV Looks at the Oscars
Character: Self
Released: March 30, 1976
Type: Movie
Made in 1976, TVTV's close-up look at Hollywood's annual awards ritual mixes irreverent documentary with deadpan comedy. TVTV's cameras go behind the scenes to follow major Hollywood figures (including Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Lee Grant, Jack Nicholson, and many others), capturing them in candid moments—inside their limousines, dressing for the ceremony, backstage at the awards.
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An Occasion to Speak
Title: An Occasion to Speak
Character: Self
Released: September 28, 1966
Type: Movie
Documentary about the film academy in Prague and the Czech Film in 1965.
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The Presence of Arnošt Lustig
Title: The Presence of Arnošt Lustig
Character: Self
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
"A man is immortal as long as he lives in the memory of others,” said well-known Czech writer Arnošt Lustig with a wry smile. In December 2006 when her father turned 80, filmmaker Eva Lustigová began to see just how closely his words applied to himself personally. Her method involved recording their meetings and personal interviews together, until Lustig’s death in February 2011. Employing his notorious sense of humor, the film presents the world-renowned author as he recalls a carefree childhood cut short by the Nazi occupation, the horror of life in a concentration camp, the beginnings of his writing career, living in Israel and the USA, and his lifelong friendship with Ota Pavel. Geneva-based Eva Lustigová’s documentary is not a traditional portrait compilation of a famous writer that chronologically investigates his life, but rather a loosely assembled, lively movie about a person with an eternal love for life as it is.