 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Books by Ludmila Zeman: Gilgamesh the King The Revenge of Ishtar The Last Quest of Gilgamesh The First Red Maple Leaf Sindbad |
Ludmila Zeman [ Interview ] It is a lucky child who can grow up in a world of make-believe. Artist Ludmila Zeman Spaleny's father was world-renowned Czech film director Karel Zeman. Every summer her father's studio, which was located close to their house, became her second home. Here she lived in a world of puppets and soon she began to make her own. She was enchanted by her father's creations and even helped build puppets for his award-winning Mr. Prokouk the Acrobat while not yet in her teens. She not only did puppetry, but painted background scenes as well. Later her greatest talent would be revealed to be her drawing ability. Ludmila decided to go to art school. During her four years of study there, she continued to work with her father at every opportunity, gaining expertise in designing puppets, costumes, and sets, as well as in taking and developing still photographs. As her film career took off, Ludmila was approached by the biggest publishing company in Czechoslovakia and asked to illustrate a children's book. The book, Linda, the Gardener's Cat, published by Albatross, was a bestseller in Czechoslovakia. In late 1984, Ludmila and her husband emigrated to Canada with their two children. Since her move, Ludmila has created work for Sesame Street and the National Film Board. She lives in Montreal, and divides her time between working on film and writing and illustrating children's books. |
|
Interview What was your favorite book and film as a child? Since I was very young, I have loved fairy tales and legends. Some of my favorites are: The Thousand and One Nights, Andersen's fairy tales, Homer's The Odyssey, and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Later on, I loved science fiction novels by the French author Jules Verne. As a child, I loved old Disney movies (Snow White, Hiawatha and Robin Hood), my father's movies (Journey to the Beginning of Time, An Invention for Destruction, and Baron Munchhausen) and movies with the comedians Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and British films such as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. What is your favorite book and film now? Old myths, legends, and, still, fairy tales. My favorite films are Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, and Brazil and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones. What is your favorite medium? Film and theater. Do you have a favorite place to draw? What's it like? A small room in my house is where I create my books. This small studio has a large table with many wooden boxes filled with pencils, paint brushes and other tools that I use for my pictures. I also have a large window and a wall-sized bookshelf that is filled with my favorite books and magazines. And I have many pictures and paintings on my walls. Some are from my previous books and others are from my films. [ Top ] Describe your first drawing or film. I grew up in a filmmaker's family, five minutes away from a major studio where my father, Karel Zeman, a renowned film director, worked. My father made films mostly for children and I spent all my free time by his side. I admired the way he could sketch, plan the story boards, and direct his crew. The film studio was like a real kingdom for me. I usually helped making puppets and painting backgrounds for different films. But most importantly, I often sat in the projection room watching movies, fascinated by how simple pieces of paper could become alive. When I was 19, I tried to build my own puppets and I animated my first short film, about a monkey and a turtle. It was successfully sold to Czech TV. Where do you get your ideas from? When I work, I think of everything that I learned from my father when working with him. My ideas also come from the many books that I read during my childhood. They gave me a lot of knowledge and understanding about life. What do you do when you can't think of an idea? I go to a library and I do research. I try to collect information from different books, museums, and movies. For me, these are great sources of inspiration. What is the best thing about being an artist? Freedom to express my ideas, feelings, emotions, and fantasies that have been with me all my life, and that I am able to give them form, through illustrations or film, which may give someone else inspiration. [ Top ] What is the worst thing about being an artist? Uncertainty and isolation. Starting a new project still terrifies me because I never know how the audience or readers will respond to my work. How do you feel about bad reviews? For me, as an author and illustrator of children's books, the children's reactions are more important than reviews written by adult critics. If the children enjoy my books or films, I am not disturbed by bad reviews at all. If you could meet any famous person who has ever lived, who would it be? Many artists, whom I admire and who have inspired me, such as Gustave Doré, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, and filmmakers such as Antonioni, Fellini, Charlie Chaplin. But my greatest influence and inspiration comes from my father, Karel Zeman. I wish he was still alive to see my books and films. |
