Jiří Bartoška is one of the most popular film and theatre actors in the Czech Republic.  After graduating from Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, he launched his acting career at Goose on a String Theatre in 1972. He went on to Činoherní studio in Ústi nad Labem before being engaged at Prague’s Theatre on the Balustrade in 1978. He has regularly performed at Theatre on the Balustrade since 1991 and recently won critical acclaim for his role in Jacques and His Master. Of his numerous film and theatre roles, his characters from several popular Czechoslovak television shows brought him national fame: Malý pitaval z velkého města, My všichni školou povinniand especially Sanitka. He has played in nearly thirty films and recently won viewers over with his performance as the successful author Karel in You Kiss like a God. While the country was still under communism, he signed a petition calling for the release of Václav Havel from prison and a Charter 77 petition titled “Několik vět” (A Few Sentences). He co-founded the Civic Forum and was one of Havel’s closest associates. He has been the president of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival since 1994 and is greatly credited with turning the event into one of the most popular festivals in the world. Each year the festival welcomes stars such as Michael Douglas, Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon and many others as well as famous filmmakers from around the world. The special, intimate atmosphere of this “big little festival” is especially popular among the hundreds of thousands of film aficionados who have converged on the spa town since the mid-1990s.