I‘m happy when I do something for someone
Stáhnout obrázek
Jan Šisler was born on 4 October 1952 in Karlín, Prague, where he also spent his childhood. After not being admitted to the film school in Čimelice, he trained as an electromechanic. He completed his basic military service in Žatec and Plešivec, and after completing it he joined the Krátký film (Short Film) Prague as a lighting and production assistant. He was dismissed in 1976 for spreading samizdat texts. His next short working engagement at the Theatre under the Tent ended with his interrogation by State Security at the Ministry of the Interior. With a flawed personnel report, he found further employment at the company Cleaning Company Prague (Úklid Praha). He decided to solve his situation by joining the Mountain Rescue Service in the Ore Mountains. In December 1978, during his training, he suffered a severe spinal injury that left him permanently confined to a wheelchair. After long-term rehabilitation he was able to return to work with Short Film, but soon the focus of his life became activities for the benefit of the physically disabled. In the mid-1980s, he was invited by Professor Jan Pfeiffer to join the occupational therapy team at the Clinic of Rehabilitation Medicine in Albertov. He also worked closely with the Olga Havlová Foundation on humanitarian projects. Since 2002 he has been the Executive Director of Rehalb, o.p.s. In 2025, Jan Šisler lived in his flat in Hradčany and continued to be involved in projects supporting physically disabled people.