The 14th Millennium Docs Against Gravity will feature masterclasses and a retrospective of Helena Třeštíkova, whose working method has always been a longitudinal observation of her protagonists. Our audience will see her latest film “Marriage Story”, as well as her former documentaries: “Private Universe” and “Mallory”.
Helena Třeštíková is a Czech documentary film director and pedagogue whose work serves as the most important chronicle of life in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic of the transformation period. She started directing in the 1970s. Her original long-term documenting technique has brought her great success. Třeštíková follows her characters for many years, visiting them regularly with her camera and showing their lives in the context of the country’s different social and political periods. Helena Třeštíková undeniably ranks among the world’s top interesting documentary filmmakers. Her method of observing protagonists at different stages of their lives brings to mind such films as “Something Better to Come” by Hanna Polak or Richard Linklater’s famous feature film “Boyhood”.
Helena Třeštíková graduated from the documentary department at the legendary FAMU Prague Film Academy. She worked as a correspondent for Czechoslovak television and engaged in politics. Great popularity of her films in Check television won her the post of Minister of Culture in 2007. However, her career at the Ministry did not last long – Třeštíková remained non-partisan and refused to bow under political pressure, resigning her position after a month.
Masterclass moderators:
Tomasz Kolankiewicz – a film selector working with TVP Kultura and film festivals
Magdalena Szcześniak, PhD – a cultural anthropologist and an explorer of visual culture. She has been studying post-1989 transformation in Poland, especially changes in visual culture and the public sphere. Co-founder of the Widok foundation
Tuesday 16th of May | 6:00 p.m. | Kinoteka
Helena Třeštíkova’s masterclass after the screening of “Marriage Story”
In Polish and Czech
