Biografia
In 1982, Petr Koliha graduated from the Film and TV Directing program at FAMU. His first directing role was at the avant-garde Prague theatre "A-Studio," where he staged Anton Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard" and Maxim Gorky's "Karamora." During this period, he also began collaborating with Czechoslovak Television, producing several television plays. Notably, his works "Test Results" (1987) and the two-part "The Court-case with the Murderers of Ms. Martynova" were highly praised, with the latter recognized as the best play on Czechoslovak Television in 1988.
In 1989, Koliha made his feature film debut at Barrandov Film Studios with "Nezný barbar" (1990), adapted from Bohumil Hrabal's book and featuring actors Bolek Polívka, Jiří Menzel, and Arnost Goldflam. In 1994, he directed two projects: the Czech Television play "The Cat on the Rails," based on a story by Josef Topol, and William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Cinoherni studio theatre.
In 1996, he directed two TV plays, one based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "Play Strindberg" and another by David Jan Novotny. His second feature film, "Výchova dívek v Čechách" (1997), was adapted from a novel by Michal Viewegh. Between 1990 and 2002, Koliha taught directing at Prague Film School (FAMU).
From 1990 to 1995, he served as head producer of the creative group at Czech Television, overseeing the production of over fifty TV plays, films, and series. Between 1998 and 2000, he was Programme Director for TV Prima, and from 2001 to 2002, he held the same position at Czech Television. Koliha was Artistic Director of the Zlin Film Festival from 2003 to 2012. Currently, he is Executive Director of the CT :D Channel at Czech Television and is a voting member of the European Film Academy.
