Vladimír Smutný

Vladimír Smutný (13 July 1942 – 7 June 2025) was a Czech cinematographer.^[1][2] He was an eight-time winner of the Czech Lion Award for Best Cinematography. He was also a cinematographer of Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film winner Kolya (1996).

His father was a photographer.^[2] His sister, Jitka Smutná, is an actress. After graduating from FAMU in Prague, he worked as an advertising photographer for Tesla Holešovice and as a camera operator for Krátký film Praha.^[2] From 1974 he worked as an assistant cinematographer.^[2] His first projects as director of photography were in the 1980s when he worked primarily with directors Jiří Svoboda and Karel Kachyňa. Beginning in the mid-1990s he worked primarily with directors Jan Svěrák and Václav Marhoul.^[2][1] From 1997 he taught at FAMU in Prague.^[1]

Smutný died on 7 June 2025, at the age of 82.^[3]

• Scalpel, Please (1985)
• When the Stars Were Red (1991)
• Kolya (1996)
• Lea (1997)
• Love Lies Bleeding (1999)
• Dark Blue World (2001)
• Mazaný Filip (2003)
• King of Thieves (2004)
• The Headsman (2004)
• Empties (2007)
• Tobruk (2008)
• Kooky (2010)
• Flower Buds (2011)
• Viy (2014)
• Three Brothers (2014)
• Po strništi bos (2017)
• Golden Sting (2018)
• The Painted Bird (2019)
• The Last Aristocrat (2019)

• Czech Lion Award for Best Cinematography wins: Lea (1997), Dark Blue World (2001), Mazaný Filip (2003), King of Thieves (2004), Tobruk (2008), Flower Buds (2011), Po strništi bos (2017), The Painted Bird (2019)

• Czech Lion Award for Best Cinematography nominations: Kolya (1996), Empties (2007), Kooky (2010), Three Brothers (2014), Golden Sting (2018)

• Medal of Merit (2024)^[4]

• Vladimír Smutný at IMDb 
• Vladimír Smutný discography at Discogs