Oscar-nominated Czech animator and director Michaela Pavlátová has become a staple in the indie animation world, with films like  'Words, Words, Words' (1991), Repete' (1995), 'Carnival of Animals' (2006), and 'Tram' (2012).

In 2021, he completed her first feature film, 'My Sunny Maad' (our film review), a feminist story in a post-Taliban (at that time) Afghanistan, while she has been working in animation since 1987 and teaches animation at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In June 2025, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Animafest Zagreb 2025 and gave a masterclass at the festival.

In our GoCritic! review, Arsène Rosenmann talks to the acclaimed animation author. "I don't need my character to jump or fight to make them alive", Pavlátová mentions, taking her inspiration from inside and how to represent a mind in a character's behavior.

She also reminisces about the Czech Republic's production and distribution model for animation back in the 90s and today. She makes a pertinent metaphor about the animation artists and directors being (in terms of popularity) in the second basement of a building, producing beautiful works that not many people watch; documentarians are located on the ground floor, and live-action fiction people on top, enjoying the big popularity.

Pavlátová is currently developing her second feature animation, 'Night Tram', a project in development. The feature animation comes from her Annecy Cristal-awarded 'Tram' (2012); yet this time, the feature is not about sexual fantasies, but about a woman bus driver who's ageing and deliberating -but still in a comedic, ironic style. More info.

Watch the Michaela Pavlátová interview

• Our coverage of the Animafest Zagreb
• All our GoCritic! reviews

interview: Arsène Rosenmann

Want to read more free articles like this?

Keep this professional animation journalism effort relevant and updated. Become our patron