Pavel Horáček

Pavel Horáček graduated in Film History and Audiovisual Culture from Masaryk University in Brno, devoting his thesis to means of expression and specific animation techniques, namely in Czech animated films. For three years, he worked as programme director at the AniFest, International Festival of Animated Films in Teplice. Since 2013, Pavel has been the programme director of Anifilm, the International Festival of Animated Films, founded in Třeboň and now based in Liberec. He is a co-founder and curator of aniont.com, presenting authorial works of animation online. He prepares programmes of animated films for institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad. Pavel writes about film and animation and served as a jury member of various international festivals.

Pavel Horáček participated in “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025, a first-ever poll of its kind as a collective love letter to the art of short-form moving image. yanco and Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, in collaboration with Talking Shorts, invited filmmakers, curators, distributors, critics, and scholars worldwide to nominate 10 audiovisual works under sixty minutes that they personally consider the “greatest” of all time. This was Pavel Horáček’s submission:

Movie Original Title Director Country Year Duration
The Hand Ruka Jiří Trnka Czechoslovakia 1965 18’
Hedgehog in the Fog Ёжик в тумане Yuri Norstein Soviet Union 1975 11’
Dimensions of Dialogue Možnosti dialogu Jan Švankmajer Czechoslovakia 1983 12’

And basically any short film by him...

Laokoon Václav Mergl Czechoslovakia 1970 12’
Begone Dull Care Evelyn Lambart , Norman McLaren Canada 1949 8’
Oh Willy... Emma De Swaef , Marc James Roels Belgium 2011 17’
Visit Prague Navštivte Prahu Pavel Koutský Czechoslovakia 1983 6’
The Hat Le Chapeau Michèle Cournoyer Canada 1999 6’
Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic Paul Bush Denmark, United Kingdom 2020 7’
The Burden Min börda Niki Lindroth von Bahr Sweden 2017 15’