An integral part of the festival is its ambassador. Thanks to this position, filled by a different artist each year, our audiences get to know people connected to the Theatre Faculty of JAMU and sometimes the city of Brno itself. For the 32nd edition of the festival, our ambassador will be the theater, television, and film actor – and graduate of JAMU – Michal Isteník.
Photo: Natálie Divincová
From football player to geography and history teacher and finally to professional actor. The year Michal Isteník graduated with an acting degree (having studied under Oxana Meleshkina-Smilková and Aleš Bergman at DIFA), he joined the Brno City Theater, where he still works today. He had already performed at the Theater U stolu in a production of František Derfler’s Tragic History of Dr. Faust, as well as at the HaDivadlo and Buranteatr. He has also been involved in devised theatre, and writes sitcom screenplays and ideas for stand-up comedy. He co-authored the play Cabaret as Brno, which was staged by the Brno City Theater in 2007. He has often worked with director Hana Burešová, including in her Gogol’s Dead Souls (Brno City Theater, 2014), thanks to which he won the Thalia award for his portrayal of Čičikov. In 2011, he also received the Alfred Radok Award in the Talent of the Year category. Although he did not think about working as a comedian during his studies, in 2021, he joined Aleš Slanina and Michal Matěj to create the satirical online project AktrŠéf MdB, in which a fictional jury selects a fictional theater director. And remember: AktrŠéf is from Brno! Or at least nearby, just like Michal Isteník!
