- Occupation
Producer, Director - Country
Czech Republic
Svatoš Jan
Africa Obscura
The AFRICA OBSCURA is a documentary that concerns contemporary Africa as a photographic phenomenon. But this time, the record is made through the medium of old analogue photographic and motion-picture cameras, which were revived at the beginning of the 21st century here. By this means, photographer Jan Svatos and his expedition is looking for a legacy of the pioneer-film-makers Martin and Osa Johnson in an arid and harsh northern Kenya region. One of the aim of the movie is to present this marginalized and despised northern Kenya in a new alluring light.The documentary authentically performs almost 100 years evolution of wildlife photography in this area and finds out, whether modern-day man, used to the simplicity of modern technology, is at all capable of taking photographs using outdated photographic equipment, including developing films in removable darkroom.
Nobody Asked
This is a personal testimony about events you'd rather have forgotten. A documentary about the events that followed the end of the WWII from the point of view of a 15 years old girl from Brno, who became a victim of the so called 'forced migration'. "It was no punishment, it was a revenge" said the former president of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel in his speech in 1990, in which he denounced 'forced migration' of the Germans from Brno. At the end of the action, more than 20 000 inhabitants from Brno were violently forced to leave their homes. Moreover, it was mostly women, old people and children, most of them from mixed families, who had to undergo the 54 km long journey. Many of them died there.
The AFRICA OBSCURA is a documentary that concerns contemporary Africa as a photographic phenomenon. But this time, the record is made through the medium of old analogue photographic and motion-picture cameras, which were revived at the beginning of the 21st century here. By this means, photographer Jan Svatos and his expedition is looking for a legacy of the pioneer-film-makers Martin and Osa Johnson in an arid and harsh northern Kenya region. One of the aim of the movie is to present this marginalized and despised northern Kenya in a new alluring light.The documentary authentically performs almost 100 years evolution of wildlife photography in this area and finds out, whether modern-day man, used to the simplicity of modern technology, is at all capable of taking photographs using outdated photographic equipment, including developing films in removable darkroom.
Nobody Asked
This is a personal testimony about events you'd rather have forgotten. A documentary about the events that followed the end of the WWII from the point of view of a 15 years old girl from Brno, who became a victim of the so called 'forced migration'. "It was no punishment, it was a revenge" said the former president of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel in his speech in 1990, in which he denounced 'forced migration' of the Germans from Brno. At the end of the action, more than 20 000 inhabitants from Brno were violently forced to leave their homes. Moreover, it was mostly women, old people and children, most of them from mixed families, who had to undergo the 54 km long journey. Many of them died there.
Bc. et BcA. Jan Svatoš - Photographer, journalist and documentarist. Born May 14, 1984 (Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic). Studied photography at FAMU (BcA., 2010) , journalism at FSV UK ( Bc., 2008). As journalist he regularly cooperates with non-profit organisations as People in need (Czech Republic), Kenya Wildlife Service (Kenya), International Film Festival NaturVision (Germany) or with the museum of Martin and Osa Johnson in Kansas (USA). He publishes in magazines: EURO, Příroda, Koktejl, Digitální Foto magazín nebo Temnokomorník. He made five photographic calenders.
Africa obscura (2010) – documentary, film debut (52´); Nobody Asked (2012) – documentary (18‘).
Africa obscura (2010): IFF EKOFILM – Best screenplay; IFF TOURFILM Karlovy Vary – 2nd prize for TV documentary; IFF OUTDOOR FILMS – 3rd prize for extreme travelogue