Born in 1940. Studied direction at the Prague Film Academy (FAMU) under Elmar Klos. In 1963 he shot his thesis film, Moravian Hellas, in Strážnice, then-Czechoslovakia, about their traditional folk celebrations. The film’s unusual approach—blending humor and intellectual aggression—caused furor and indignation as well as admiration in official cultural and political circles. It took several years for it to be allowed to be screened publicly. As a director with the Krátký Film studio in Prague in 1968, Vachek shot the film Elective Affinities a legendary portrait of the protagonists of the Prague Spring during the presidential elections of that year.

He had to leave Krátký Film with the onset of the post-1968 “normalization” process, working in manual trades until emigrating with his family in 1979 to the USA via France. Due to his wife’s bad health, he eventually returned. In the 1980s he worked as a driver. After 1989 he returned to Krátký Film and, over time, completed an extensive film tetralogy that portrays Czech society from the 1990s to the next century in his inimitable style.

Since 1994 he has taught at FAMU in the Documentary Film Department88, **becoming its head in 2002. With his films and professional stance he has influenced many younger artists (e.g. Jan Gogola jr., Vít Janeček, Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák, Martin Mareček, Erika Hníková, Theodora Remundová). In 2004 he published a book, The Theory of Matter, which is an important conceptual milestone as regards his newest film, Záviš, the Prince of Pornofolk Under the Influence of Griffith’s In­tolerance and Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, or The Foundation and Doom of Czechoslovakia [1918 – 1992] . In 2008, the AMU publishing house released Karel Vachek, etc. by Martin Švoma, which can be purchased also in our e-shop.

He really did not have a predecessor in world cinematography, it wasn't truly a „hidden camera“ nor a film questionnaire, his form of expression had a somewhat strange, higher elevation(…) His humour was more exacting and complex than Forman's, he did not look for self-satisfaction in mockery, he let himself be carried away by reality's irra­tionality almost to the point of consternation. He does not let himself be devoured by it though, he is able to comprehend it with the most refined nuances, and from it is able to construct some kind of a critical beast which surmounts documentary values in numerous searching symbolizations.

Vratislav Effenberger and Jan Svoboda: „State-directed ‚underground‘“, Film and Time no. 5/1969, page 278

Despite his apparent wilfullness his procedures do not lead to anything chaotic, as he does not confront the crocks of reality, but lets them “exist” alongside one another. And after a few hours a spectator realizes that they tie together, that they are not the “crocs”, because they all communicate together. And what is it that Vachek urges for, it is that the ultimate speed of succession transforms into an infinite movement of simultaneity. Perhaps that is what he means, when saying that “the film thinks”.

Miroslav Petříček jr.: „Reality contaminated by Karel Vachek“ 'Illumination no.3/2000, Pages 111–113.

“His obvious elements –chaos, passion- megalomania and vast cosmos of used material, obsession – clustering and incomprehensible merry-go-round of things and people, and randiness to be sure – grotesque touches, some kind of geological fractures of objects and people whose only link is their congregation in one place. … Vachek adorned himself with a leading role, h is the instigator of the situations, at times (rarely !) remains a silent witness, at other times he is the one asking questions of his often paralysed partners. Transforms himself into a comedian, a preacher who fuses into some hopeful mixture of Quijot, Švejk and half-anointed half-affronted sage-commentator of the tale…. At such times it becomes very clear that in a typically play-acting, grotesque form Karel Vachek is basically a poet – a poetical rejoicer of “ties” between those he sees as “media”, a walk-through stage of creative acts.”

Cieslar Jiří, ‚A duel with Vachek {as regards Karel Vachek‘s film 'What is to be Done ?´}. Critical Supplement Revolver Revue no.6, 1996

“From his cinema vérité films of the 1960s through his “film novels” of the 1990s, maverick Czech filmmaker Karel Vachek has been known for his outspoken refusal to conform to aesthetic or political trends and for pioneering a new visual and narrative style for social documentary.” (excerpt, complete entry can be found below) Alice Lovejoy, “Karel Vachek,” Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film. Ed. Ian Aitken (New York: Routledge, 2005)

Alice Lovejoy, “Karel Vachek,” Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film. Ed. Ian Aitken (New York: Routledge, 2005)

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