Šimon Šafránek is an award-winning Czech film director, cinematographer and editor. He is best known for his gripping dramas, which focus on the social and political issues confronting Czech society and its citizens.
Šafránek was born in Prague in 1977. He studied cinematography at the prestigious Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), graduating in 2003. After graduating, he worked as a cinematographer and director on a number of short films and documentaries. In 2005, he directed his first feature length film, “The Girl on the Train”, which won the first prize at the International Festival of Short Films in Brno.
In 2007, Šafránek released his second feature length film, “Fragile City”, which won the Best Director Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film follows the lives of three men in a small Czech town, and examines issues such as loneliness, poverty and corruption.
In 2009, Šafránek released his third feature length film, “The Silence of Others”. The film follows the story of a group of Czech citizens struggling to survive in a post-Communist country that is still struggling with the ghosts of its past. The film won the Audience Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and was nominated for the European Film Awards.
Šafránek's fourth feature length film, “The Beginning of the End”, was released in 2011 and won the Best Feature Film Award at the Locarno International Film Festival. The film focuses on a group of young Czechs who are struggling to find their place in a society that is still struggling to come to terms with the legacy of Communism.
Šafránek's fifth feature length film, “The Place of Magic”, was released in 2014 and won the Grand Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film follows the story of a small Czech village that is trying to come to terms with the legacy of the Communist era.
Šafránek's sixth and most recent feature length film, “The Way Home”, was released in 2016. The film follows the story of a young Czech man who is struggling to
