20-04-2020

OBITUARY: Artemio Benki

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    PRAGUE: French director/producer/distributor Artemio Benki, whose film career spanned thirty years in the Czech Republic, died in Paris on 15 April 2020.

    Benki’s 2019 documentary feature debut Solo was selected for the Cannes ACID programme and went on to win several awards.

    Benki arrived in Prague in the early 1989 to work on a film about Roma refugees and moved to Prague permanently three years later, soon founding the Sirena Film production house. Sirena Film went on to become one of the most successful production companies in Prague, working on international productions, often for French companies.

    He proved equally successful in the field of distribution, founding the company Artcam Films, which focused on independent European arthouse production.

    Benki was born on 21 April 1966 in Paris.