FRIENDS - For life and film

After the war, Forman attended high school at the King George College Public School, established by the government for war orphans in a 15th century castle in the spa town of Poděbrady near Prague. He was surprised to discover that many of the students were not orphans but sons of elite society members. The boarding school had received numerous grants and a lot of funding and became one of the best schools in the country. During his time at school, he watched numerous French, Russian, and American films, including the Westerns of John Ford, and formed lasting friendships that left an indelible impression on his life. His closest friends included Ivan Passer, who would later become a successful film director, and Václav Havel, who became the leader of the Velvet Revolution and the President of the Czech Republic. Years later, when Havel was imprisoned by the communists, he used to dream about Forman and what a success story he was as a film director. Havel had wanted to become a director too; his father and uncle founded Barrandov Studios, one of the largest and oldest film studios in Europe, modeled after Hollywood. Forman and Havel planned on making a film together, the Ghosts of Munich, but it never came into fruition. Photo courtesy of Oldřich Škácha