Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic] | 1931-12-15 | 1988-12-14

At one time, Czech director Evald Schorm was known as "the conscience of the Czech New Wave" and was known for using film to promote notions of compassion, equality, and individualism in the face of social structure. Originally an opera singer, the Prague native studied filmmaking at the prestigious F.A.M.U. between 1957 and 1962. He went on to create documentaries with the Documentary Film Studio in Prague. Schorm also worked as a film actor. Following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Communist government repressed his films. Still, Schorm remained in Czechoslovakia and directed opera, stage plays, and sometimes television shows. He returned to feature filmmaking in the late '80s, but died of heart failure in 1988.