Jiří Menzel is one of the most significant world film directors belonging to the Czech New Wave generation. Together with Milos Forman, Vera Chytilovά, and Jaromir Ires, he enters his name in the world encyclopedia of cinema and is acknowledged as one of the greatest masters of comedy art in the 20th century. Menzel’s great success comes in 1967 with the Oscar for his cult movie Closely Observed Trains. Menzel won a Golden Bear in 1990 for his Larks on a String; he was also a member of the international jury at the Berlinale in 1987. In his film I Served the King of England (2006 ) which competed for a Golden Bear at Berlinale 2007 and won the FIPRESCI Award, Jiří Menzel cast Ivan Burnev for the part of Jan Dite.
