Tomas Rafa is a Czechoslovakian film director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1963, Rafa has worked in the film industry since 1985 and is best known for his award-winning films, such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) and Divided We Fall (2000).
Rafa first began his career as a cinematographer and his first feature film as director was Irena, the Witch (1985). This film was well-received by critics and established Rafa as a promising director. He went on to direct the critically acclaimed The Unbearable Lightness of Being in 1988. This film was based on the novel by Milan Kundera and featured Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche in the lead roles. The film was a commercial and critical success, and it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In the 1990s, Rafa directed several films in Czechoslovakia, including Kolya (1996) and Divided We Fall (2000). Kolya is an Academy Award-winning film that tells the story of a man who takes in a young boy during the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Divided We Fall is a comedy-drama set in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Rafa has since directed several other films, including Up and Down (2004), Empties (2007), and In the Shadow (2012). Up and Down is a drama about a couple who take in an abandoned baby, and Empties is a comedy about an elderly man who falls in love with a much younger woman. In the Shadow is a crime drama set in 1950s Prague.
Rafa has also directed a number of short films, including The Last Day of Summer (2009) and The Wedding (2010). The Last Day of Summer is a romantic drama about a couple who decide to take a road trip, and The Wedding is a comedy about two families who plan a wedding.
Throughout his career, Rafa has received numerous awards and nominations, including the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Kolya, and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Divided We Fall. Rafa’s films have been praised for their visual style, emotional depth,
