Vladislav "Vlado" Kristl (24 January 1923, Zagreb, Croatia – 7 July 2004, Munich, Germany) was a filmmaker and artist, best known for his animations and short films. Vladislav "Vlado" Kristl was born 24 January 1923 in Zagreb, Croatia.[citation needed] Kristl first came to international prominence for his formally challenging and rigorous animations, particularly Don Kihot (freely inspired by Cervantes' Don Quixote). The film is a "graphical and abstract masterpiece which went beyond all existing conventions" and was awarded the main prize at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival. Kristl regarded this film, which was not his first, as the one where he "was finally given a free rein". In 1962 Kristl made General i resni clovek (The General and the real man), a satirical live action short film which got him into trouble with the board of censors. He died in 2004, aged 81, in Munich, Germany. With his partner Jelena he had two children, Madeleine (b. 1966) and Pepe Stephan (b. 1968). He published two books of poetry: Neznatna lirika (Insignificant lyrics, 1959), and Pet bijelih stepenica (Five white steps, 1961) in Croatian, and several books in German.