An early notable work is a black comedy,
Tales of Common Insanity (2004) (), which he directed at
Dejvické divadlo. He received the
Alfréd Radok Award for Best Play. The play was later staged in other Czech theatres as well as in
Poland,
Hungary,
Slovakia,
Slovenia and
Germany. It was also published in English and translated to
Russian. For his film
Mnâga – Happy End he won the 1996
Findling Award at the Filmfestival Cottbus. In 2005, Zelenka adapted the comedy as a film, released as
Wrong Side Up, which won two movie festival awards in 2006 and was nominated for six other awards. His second most notable play is
Teremin, inspired by the life of Russian inventor
Léon Theremin. His 2008 film,
Karamazovi, was the Czech Republic's official
Oscar submission for
Best Foreign Language Film. His 2010 election advertisement "Přemluv bábu a dědu" caused controversy as critics believed it was offensive against elder people and "an imperfect copy of
Sarah Silverman's stand-up video." ==Filmography==