The history of Czech cinema starts with Jan Kříženecký, an early pioneer of cinematography from the end of 19th century. The first major film studio Barrandov Studios was launched by Miloš Havel in 1933. Otakar Vávra was among the most notable domestic directors in Czechoslovakia from the late 1930s onward. In the 1960s – leading up to the Prague Spring of 1968 – Czechoslovak New Wave emerged, led by directors like Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová or Jiří Menzel. Miloš Forman managed to flee before the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and continued his career in the United States, where he reached high critical acclaim and received two Academy Awards for Best Director for his movies "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and "Amadeus" (1984). Jiří Menzel was another Academy Award laureate, winning the 1967 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with his first feature film, "Closely Watched Trains". A contemporary director Jan Svěrák is another laureate of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which he received for his drama "Kolya" in 1996. &lt;br&gt;