CZECH DOCS SHOWCASE

THE JOURNEY: PORTRAIT OF VERA CHYTILOVA
CESTA PORTRET VERY CHYTILOVE



Jasmina Blaževic

Country of production: Czech Republic
Year: 2004
Language: Czech
Mins: 52

Production company: Negativ, s.r.o.
Producer: Katerina Cerná
Script: Jasmina Blaževic
Cinematography: Štepán Kucera
Editing: Jakub Voves

Source: Negativ s.r.o.
Karolina Riley
Ostrovni 30
110 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 224 933 755
Fax: +420 224 933 472
e-mail: riley@tiscali.cz

“I was daring enough to want to do what I wanted, even if it was a mistake. I wanted absolute freedom,” says the first lady of Czech film and famous Czech New Wave director Vera Chytilova (Daisies, The Fruit of Paradise). Prague Film Academy graduate Jasmina Blazevic`s documentary portrait of Chytilova`s personal and professional battles reveals how this great personality never adapted well to compromise. Blazevic approaches her character with respect and admiration, yet retains a provocative stance. Chytilova`s young colleague doesn’t offer a “memorial” built with devotion but an intimate profile of a woman and filmmaker who survived political changes in Czechoslovakia without compromising her artistic integrity. “Everyone does what they can to avoid thinking. Laziness is the most basic human trait. People don't want to think - they can't make the connection between entertainment and thought. They want immediate kicks. People will not be human until they get pleasure from thought - only a thinking person can be a full person,” says Chytilova.

Jasmina Blaževic was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1965. She studied comparative literature and oriental studies. In 1988 she moved to Prague to study at FAMU where she earned an MA in directing. Today she films mostly documentaries, many of them made in Asia. She is also teaching directing classes at FAMU. She lives in Prague.

FILMOGRAPHY (selected)

Journey (2004)
What Else Can We Do To Them (2003)
In the Middle of the World , Love is the Hard Job (2002)
I Hate My Job, Grandmothers in love (2001)
Burmese Prisoners, Just 500 Dead (2000)
Little Dreams From the Street, The Order of the Satin Bows (1999)
Questions From Asia, Success, Faith, Art, Crime, Death (1998-1997)

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005 AT 5.30 PM. / GALLERY THEATRE
SCREENING WITH
THE KEY FOR DETERMINING DWARFS OR THE LAST TRAVEL OF LEMUEL GULLIVER