Miloš Forman

Biography:

Milos Forman was a Czech-American film director, screenwriter, and professor who managed to become one of the key filmmakers of the New Hollywood era. Born on February 18, 1932, in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia, Forman started his filmmaking career at the time of the Czechoslovak New Wave, working on films like Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), and The Firemen’s Ball (1967). Forman moved to the US after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and started working in Hollywood with the movie Taking Off (1971). He reached the peak of his success with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), a psychological drama with Jack Nicholson as the main character that became a masterpiece of its time.

Forman received the Academy Award for Best Director twice – first for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and then again for his film Amadeus (1984), thus becoming one of those directors who managed to win the award more than once. Amadeus is based on Peter Shaffer’s famous play about the rivalry of two composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri and received eight Oscars, among which were Best Picture and Best Director. Among his other films are Ragtime (1981), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and Man on the Moon (1999). Forman’s work can be recognized by the plots that usually tell stories of outsiders against social institutions, authorities, and other expectations.