Miloš Forman

Miloš Forman was born in 1932 in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia. Both his parents died in Nazi concentration camps, and he was raised by relatives. He studied screenwriting at Prague's FAMU film school and became a leading figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave, whose gently ironic films Black Peter, Loves of a Blonde, and The Firemen's Ball observed ordinary life with humor the regime found unsettling.

After the Soviet-led invasion of 1968, Forman remained in the United States and rebuilt his career from nothing. His 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest became only the second film in history to sweep the five major Academy Awards, winning him his first Oscar for Best Director. In 1984 Amadeus, filmed largely in Prague, won eight Oscars including his second for directing.

Forman continued to champion misfits and rebels in films such as Hair, Ragtime, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and Man on the Moon, and taught film at Columbia University for decades. He died in Connecticut in 2018. His legacy bridges two cinemas: the tender irony of the Czech New Wave and Hollywood storytelling at its most humane.