Zdeněk Svěrák, one of the most influential figures in modern Czech culture and cinema, will celebrate his 90th birthday on March 28 with a nationally broadcast evening linking radio, theater and cinemas across the country. The event underscores the breadth of a career that has shaped Czech storytelling for more than six decades.
Organized by Czech Radio, the live program will originate from Prague’s Divadlo Járy Cimrmana and will be broadcast on Radiožurnál, while a simultaneous live video transmission will screen in more than 100 cinemas nationwide. The format reflects Svěrák’s long-standing connection to radio, a medium that played a formative role in his early creative development.
For international audiences, the celebration offers a timely moment to revisit Svěrák’s outsized role in Czech film, particularly as a screenwriter and actor whose work has reached well beyond national borders.
From radio beginnings to defining Czech cinema
Although Svěrák is widely known internationally for his screenplay and starring performance in the Academy Award-winning Kolya (1996), his creative roots lie in radio and theater. In the 1960s, he began working at Czech Radio, where he developed his distinctive style in dialogue-driven programs such as the improvised Nealkoholická vinárna U Pavouka (Non-alcoholic wine bar U Pavouka). That emphasis on language, rhythm and verbal humor later became a hallmark of his screenwriting.
Svěrák’s film career is closely linked with director Jan Svěrák, his son, with whom he collaborated on several of the most successful Czech films of the post-1989 era. Beyond Kolya, their collaborations include Elementary School, The Dark Blue World, and Empties, films that combine intimate storytelling with broader reflections on Czech history and everyday life. Svěrák frequently appeared on screen in these works, often portraying understated, quietly humorous characters rooted in ordinary experience.
In addition to film, Svěrák is a central figure behind the enduring popularity of Divadlo Járy Cimrmana, a Prague theater dedicated to the fictional Czech polymath Jára Cimrman. The theater’s uniquely Czech blend of parody, mock scholarship and absurdist humor has remained consistently sold out for decades, becoming a cultural institution in its own right.
Reflecting on his early years in radio, Svěrák has often credited the medium with shaping his approach to storytelling. He has described learning to work without visual cues as both a limitation and a strength—one that influenced the dialogue-heavy nature of his screenplays.
A live national tribute bridging media and generations
The March 28 celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will feature an improvised stage setting inspired by Svěrák’s early radio work. Guests connected to his career across theater, film and music are expected to appear throughout the evening, including actors Daniela Kolářová and Bolek Polívka, entertainer Karel Šíp, and singer-songwriter Tomáš Klus. The program will be hosted by Czech Radio journalist Vladimír Kroc, alongside theater historian Tomáš Maleček.
Following the live broadcast, participating cinemas will continue the evening with screenings of selected Svěrák films, linking the celebratory event directly to his cinematic legacy. Part of the ticket proceeds will support Centrum Paraple, a Prague-based organization assisting people with spinal cord injuries and their families.
Czech Radio will also mark the anniversary with additional programming, including a documentary for Radio Dvojka titled Na chalupě u lesa, which features an extended conversation between Svěrák and actor Vojtěch Kotek. The station will also premiere a new children’s radio fairy tale written by Svěrák, highlighting the range of his work across generations.
As Svěrák reaches 90, the coordinated national tribute reflects more than a birthday celebration. It serves as a reminder of a career that has shaped Czech film language, preserved a distinctly local sense of humor, and connected radio, theater and cinema in ways that remain rare even today.
