Vachek – Vachek Karel (2025)

This Czech-language book presents the collected literary work of filmmaker, teacher, poet and painter Karel Vachek (1940–2020). His films Moravská Hellas and Spřízněni volbou place him among the Czechoslovak New Wave, while during the period of normalization he was forbidden to make films. After 1989, he created seven essay-like film novels. When he was not filming, he worked continuously on his creative method, writing mainly screenplays and poetry while also pursuing visual art. The book centres on unrealized screenplays from the 1960s and 1970s, including Hrdina Bohemia, Kdo bude hlídat hlídače?, Létající neidentifikovatelné české předměty, Česká regurgitace, Rom, Co dělat? and Cesta světla, followed by extensive literary collages such as Bohemia docta, Obrozenci a obroditelé and Komunismus. Another section contains a selection of poetry, mostly from the 1960s, complemented by notes, reflections and lectures. The book offers a broader view of Vachek as a solitary and distinctive author outside any generational or aesthetic movement. It also includes works by his wife Dagmar, sister Ludmila and brother Petr, the people with whom he most closely connected his work.