Třeštíková Helena

Katka
Helena Třeštíková's film is a remarkable documentary tracing fourteen years in the life of a young junkie and her futile battle with drug addiction. Why did she start taking drugs? She claims she wanted to be different. The year is 1996 and 19-year-old Katka lives in the Sananim therapy community in the town of Němčice with hope for a normal life – she dreams of having a boyfriend and even a family, some day. But there's no happy ending. The director records Katka's descent over the years into a spiral of theft, prostitution, physical and psychological deterioration – a spiral that is broken only by brief flashes of hope and resolutions to stop taking drugs. Katka's desire is sincere, but in the end drugs always win. Will Katka finally find the strength when she becomes pregnant and motherhood offers her life-sustaining motivation?

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Nurses
Helena Třeštíková is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. Nurses follows ordinary lives of ordinary women. It took Helena Třeštíková 13 years to finish this film. It records feelings of a group of girls that have chosen the career of a nurse. Their lives prior to graduation and then shortly after. Some of them give up the job very soon trying to succeed in a different field, such as acting, motherhood, studies or business. At the end of the film, only one of them still works as a nurse.

Sweet Century
Sweet Century is a film about several women who were not destined to live the lives they wanted.

Jester
Applying the method of long-term observation, the director follows the young theater director and actor Jakub Špalek and his newly-formed theatre company.

Carmen Story
A documentary film about the opening of the new opera Carmen in the NAtional Theatre (Prague) with Dagamr Pecková in the lead role and directed by Jozef Bednárik.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Trapped
Helena Třeštíková is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. The tragic story of a girl named Katka who believes that joy and happiness can be applied through a hypodermic needle. All she is left with is despair. We first meet Katka at a rehab clinic in Němčice, still full of optimism and faith in a drug-free future. The film tries to draw attention to the drug problem from a somewhat different point of view...

Marcela
The extraordinary life of an ordinary woman. The fifth part of a series entitled "Marriage Stories" featured Marcela, whose story started in 1980 at the Prague town hall. Still in black and white, the film follows events over a period of six years. In 1999 we re-enter her life, but shooting has to be interrupted after her daughter Ivana is hit by a train. Four months later, shooting resumes. The audience, moved by her difficult life, decided to help the despairing mother. The film captures the events of the past year.

Hitler, Stalin and I
Heda Margoliová-Kovalyová's lifestory.

To Be a Roma Girl
The lifestory of Vojta Lavička - musician and Roma activist.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - To Be a Romany Woman
The theme of the whole documentary cycle is that of several woman and their and singular fates. The individual parts introduce women who are in their zenith and are enjoyning success and fame are woman who are down and out among the dregs of society; women in enviable, in seemingly ordinary and pitiable situations. The documentaries were made by the time-collection method with shoot taking place during a period of five years. Following the life of a young Roma intellectual, Jarmila Balážová.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 1. Marcela and Jiří
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Women on the Brink of the New Millennium - I'm a Woman and I Like Women
Helena Třeštíková is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. I'm a Woman and I Like Women deals with lesbian women.

Tell Me Something About Yourself - René
Who is to blame when a young person turns into an incorrigible criminal? Is it his family, the society or his own inborn predisposition? Helena Třeštíková's documentary film may only hint at possible explanations but does not offer any clear answers.

The Sweet Bitterness of Lída Baarová
A portrait of the 1930's, 1940' and 1950's film diva, Lída Baarová.

Memory of the 20th Century: Beyond Words
A documentary film about the history of the Jewish family camp in Auschwitz, about its annihilation and the worst mass murder in the history of Czechoslovakia.

My Lucky Star
The story of a woman who survived the hell of several concentration camps. Zdenka Fantlová recounts her unique life story with its all dramatic turns: her happy childhood in the pre-war years, the deportation to Theresienstadt and the great love she found there, another deportation to Auschwitz, Gross Rosen, Mauthausen, the death march and Bergen Belsen, where a British soldier saved her life.

Memory of the 20th Century: Pavel Tigrid - The European
A portrait of Pavel Tigrid, a Czech journalist and author. The film was made during the last days of his life.

Memory of the 20th Century: The Events of Pavel Štecha
Pavel Štecha is one of the leading Czech photographers and documentarists. His black-and-white photos from 1968-89 are well-known, but his photographs of ordinary life from the period are also of crucial importance - cottage-goers, shops, streets and the clothing of the time... In his art, he often managed to capture features of the Czech character. The film visits him at a time when his life is dominated by a serious illness.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 2. Ivana and Pavel
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 3. Ivana and Václav
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 4. Zuzana and Stanislav
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 5. Zuzana and Vladimír
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: 6. Mirka and Antonín
An episode from a cycle of documentary films tracing 25 years in the lives of six married couples. Normalization-era socialism, and then early capitalism as seen through the lives of several Czech families. They married in 1980, and until 1986 their lives were documented on film using time-lapse, resulting in a cycle of six 30-minute films about the six young couples and the six years of their marriages. In 1999, the filmmakers visited them again, and resumed shooting until 2005. The result is another six hour-long films continuing the original cycle.

Memory of the 20th Century: It Was Worth Something
The prominent Czech doctor Jaroslav Skála is the godfather of Czech alcohol detoxification treatment. He founded the Prague alcohol clinic at U Apolináře, as well as the first sobering-up station in the world. He was the head of the institution for 34 years. He bacame famous for his strict system of treatment, which he called PRS - programme, regime, system. Even today, in his late eighties, he is professionally active. The film aslo features Skála's colleague and associate, doctor Arnoštka Maťová.

René
This raw authentic documentary film tells the story of René whose life was being captured on camera since he was seventeen. The camera followed his hopeless journey between prison and brief periods outside the prison walls. In 2008 the film comes to an end, leaving the now 37-year-old René as a sick man who still gets in trouble with the law and who is also the author of two published books. René's story begins in prison under socialist posters, continues through the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989 and gets a seemingly happy conclusion with the amnesty decree issued by President Václav Havel. Yet René soon heads back to prison and also celebrated our EU accession from behind the bars. During the years spent in prison - sentenced mainly for theft - René had his whole body covered in tattoos, escaped from prison only to be soon recaptured, burgled the director's home, was involved in a couple of romantic relationships, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as well as a high IQ. René displays his outlook on life by flashing his "Fuck of People" tattoo on his neck.

Memory of the 20th Century: My Lucky Star
The story of Zdena Fantlová, who survived a Nazi concentration camp.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium: A Winner Never Gives Up
The story of a mother who overcame her cruel fate.

I Served Karel Čapek
Alžběta Motlová, née Venhodová, was a maid for Czech writer Karel Čapek. She was the one who helped Čapek photograph the dog Dášeňka by chasing her around the yard; she was the one who set the table for important guests such as Czech president Masaryk or his son Jan. She very much liked her employer and experienced with him all the beautiful and critical moments that life brought.

The Sure Way to Happiness
Documentary film on seeking a non-consumer life style.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Pleasure without the Risk 1
A portrait of prostitutes who manage to be confident and composed in their lives and in an amateur theatre presentation.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Pleasure without the Risk 2
A portrait of prostitutes who manage to be confident and composed in their lives and in an amateur theatre presentation.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Bára B. Live
A portrait of popular Czech singer Bára Basiková.

The Call
Documentary film recording a few years in the life of actor Jan Potměšil, who is confined to a wheelchair. The film tries to give a non-sympathetic view of his life which is lived fully despite his unfortunate fate.

Tell Me Something About Yourself - Pavlína
A documentary about negatively affected youth.

Ten Years in the Life of a Young Man
Recording spanning ten years of the life (from October 1989) of the theatre specialist and actor Jakub Špalek.

Tell Me Something about Yourself - Milan (The Maturing of Evil)
A documentary film made over a period of time which follows six years in the life of a young deliquent.

Rudolf II and Prague - Impressions from the Rudolfine Year 1997
A documentary film about the exhibition Rudolf II and Prague and the accompanying cultural events held in the capital.

An Attempt at One Anniversary
A documentary reflection on the sence and significance of the anniversary for today's society on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in Prague.

Women at the Turn of the Millennium - Forte and Piano
A portrait of Czech concert singer Dagmar Pecková.

Tell Me Something About Yourself - Láďa
Another of the cycle of Tell Me ABout Yourself documentaries, made using the quick motion method, this film follows the lifeof another young delinquent - Láďa.

Tell Me Something About Yourself - Martin
Another documentary using the quick motion method brings the story of a young delinquent Martin.

Memory of the 20th Century: The Sky over Europe
The life stories of several fliers, fighting in England during the Second World War, and their wives

I Live You, People. An Essay on One Myth
A documentary film about the weakness of true heroes and the streght of an ambiguous past, illustrated by th elife and work of Julius Fučík.

Head and Foot of Prague
Documentary film evaluating Prague architecture of the 20th century.

When You Must, You Must? Trapped and Still Trapped
A current-event documentary capturing the subject of drug addiction.

Private Universe
Honza was born in 1974 into the cheerless era of socialism in Czechoslovakia. At that time, his parents Jana and Petr lived in one room in the apartment of Jana's divorced mother and her widowed grandmother. A few years later, the family moved from Prague to Liberec where Petr found a job and a little house for the family. When Honza was born, his father began writing a family chronicle and he has continued to do so for 37 years. Private Universe shows not only the life of one ordinary family but also how the Czech society has changed in the last four decades. Who are we, where do we come from and where do we go?

24
A documentary collage about the progress of one Czech day, composed by 24 directors. Everyone picked one hour, day or night, and received two minutes of the whole film at his or her disposal. This allowed for the mosaic on genres and topics that portrait the atmosphere of the Czech Republic today. At the same time, this unique project presents various filmmaking styles and approaches of the best contemporary Czech documentarians, all on the reel of one film. The authors accompany teenagers at a discotheque, observe doctors during surgery, laborers in a factory, believers in a synagogue or the descent in a human throat. Olga Špátová records the authentic power of the moment when the child is born. Vít Klusák engages a special camcorder to freeze the time of one tram stop. The flow of time is Helena Třeštíková’s topic – she films Katka taking yet another public bath in a Prague’s fountain. Martin Mareček shows a pair of legs sunk in aquarium, which, backed with a voiceover, illustrates the timeless power of human stupidity. Jiří Krejčík, a significant persona of Czech film, conceived his film hour with a great amount of humor and exaggeration.

Vojta Lavička - Ups and Downs
Longitudinal documentary film was shot for past 16 years and the main protagonist is Roman musician and activist Vojta Lavička. Vojta is a master in violin play, who focuses not only on music but also deals with problems of his origin Roman nationality. Vojta is very active in media - he worked in the national radio and television, he worked in the NGO that organize street work for Roman ghettos around the Czech republic, Vojta worked also as a social worker. All together we can watch him struggling with the main topic of his life - his national minority and problems that are caused by living next to Czech majority. Aside this topic films discovers Vojta's private life and his fight for being a good musician and a good man.

Life with Jester
For 23 years, Helena Třeštíková followed the story of actor and stage director Jakub Špalek. The first piece of footage was shot in Autumn 1989 when Jakub, then a theatre academy student, was actively involved in the Velvet Revolution. Back then, Jakub dreamed of running his own theatre company which soon came true - he is still in charge of Kašpar Theatre in Prague. The film documents the difficult life of an independent theatre manager, as well as his many personal struggles and joys.

Helena Třeštíková studied documentary filmmaking at the Prague Film Academy, FAMU. Since 1974 she has worked as a professional filmmaker, shooting almost fifty documentary films of various lengths on themes of interpersonal relationships and social problems. In the course of time, she specialized in the longitudinal approach, following people’s life stories on long-term basis. For a period of six years, her first series of time-lapse films followed the everyday lives of several young married couples from the moment of their wedding. For her film René (2008), she was awarded by the European Film Academy (EFA) the 2008 Prix Arte for Best Documentary Film.

HELENA TŘEŠTÍKOVÁ Graduated from the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU, Prague. Since 1974 she has worked as a professional documentary filmmaker, and has made around fifty documentary films of various lengths and formats, mostly on the subject of human relationships and various social issues. Selected Filmography: "Romeo, Juliet and the Children" , 1974 – a film essay on family education. "The Miracle", 1975 - Observation of a young pregnant woman that follows the young mother for six months after giving birth. The film won several awards at Czech festivals and was also awarded in Leipzig. "Two Jubilees of Jan Zrzavý", 1976 - A portrait of a seminal Czech painter. "Help Line", 1977 – A film about the telephone assistance provided to children in distress. "World of Colors", l978 – A film about the creative abilities of children. "A Touch of Light", 198l – An exploration of the life of blind children, with quotes from a book by a blind writer and music by a blind composer. A contemplation on the ability to overcome hardships. The film won several awards, mostly abroad – in Bilbao, Lausanne, Lille. Also received the Zlaté slunce award in Trutnov. "A Thousand Years of Sobriety", 1984 – A contemplation on alcoholism and possible treatment. Eventually Helena Třeštíková specialized in the method of "time-lapse" shooting – the observation of human life over an extended period of time. She made several large-scale documentary cycles using this method. The first cycle traced the everyday life of six young married couples for six years, beginning on their wedding day. The film crew subsequently paid regular visits to them, documenting their problems, dreams, struggles, and in some cases their crises, divorces or reconciliation. This resulted in the six-part television cycle "Marital Etudes" - l987, and two feature-length documentaries, "For Love", l987 and "Looking For Ways", l988 – both of which won awards at the annual retrospectives of Czech film, in 1988 and 1989, respectively. "Life Is an Accident", 1988 – A film essay on the consequences of abortion. "Grammar School" , 1989 – A film exploring the school system. "Theatre Za Branou", 1990 – A portrait of renown theatre director Otomar Krejča. In 1991, in cooperation with her colleagues, filmmakers and sociologists, she established the Film and Sociology Foundation, which aims to provide new perspectives on a society undergoing deep political changes. "If Anything Needs Our Help, It Is Freedom" , 1990 – A portrait of one of the student leaders of the Czech "Velvet Revolution." "Behind Bars" , 1990 - received the Czech Critics´ Award in 199l – A film about a juvenile prison for kids between 15 - 18 years. "I Created You", 1991 – A film on the return of nuns (religious orders were banned under communism). "Tell Me Something About Yourself" - A loose cycle of time-lapse films on the lives of young delinquents who had gone through juvenile prisons. The crew followed their lives after leaving prison, heavily marked by their criminal "careers", for a period of 3 to 6 years. This project has to date produced 5 films: "Pavlína" 1992 - the story of a young drug addict who repeatedly promises to give up her addiction. This resolution is most intense when she gives birth to a son. Even the love for her child, however, cannot win over her addiction. This story was observed for three years, and the filmmaker is preparing a sequel. FITES Award, 1991. "René" 1993 – the story of a young thief, who gradually ever more strongly identifies with the role of a renegade and desperado, even burglarizing the apartment of the director who tried to help him all along. Awarded at Nyon (Switzerland), l993. "Láďa" 1994 – the story of a youth who keeps changing prisons and girlfriends, as well as moods. If he is in a bad mood, he swallows sharp objects. If he is in a good mood, he writes romantic love letters. "Martin, or, to Have or to Be" 1994 - A young man oscillating between God and the dolce vita. He spends the rest of his time in prison in front of the television, watching the world "outside" change. The film was made between l989 and l993, at the time of dramatic historical changes in Eastern Europe. "The Incubation of Evil" 1997 - The protagonist of this film, Milan, lived with a family only for the first six years of his life. Ever since then, it has been children’s homes and prisons. Perhaps that is the reason why he has not learned to distinguish right from wrong. The film was awarded the Academia Film Olomouc Prize in 1998. The time-lapse method was used also in making a film about a young actor, director and theatre entrepreneur, "Jester", l993 which follows a young theatre student obsessed with the idea of his own theatre, striving to bring it to fruition. As he does so, he happens to take part in the Velvet Revolution, which was initiated by students, finishes his studies, gets married and then divorced, founds his theatre and loses it... In the years l994 - l996, the director made several portraits of luminaries for the documentary cycles Gen and Genus: Tomáš Halík (1994) – on the Catholic priest, philosopher, and Professor of Charles University, Prague. Olbram Zoubek (1995) - on the eminent sculptor. Lída Rakušanová (1996) – on the exile journalist, who helped strengthen the resistance against the totalitarian regime through her work for Radio Free Europe. Jiřina Šiklová (1996) – on the well-known nonconformist sociologist who works on the issues of feminism, student movements and societal attitudes toward minorities. Karel Čáslavský (1997) – on the film historian who has saved a great number of unique archival film material for posterity For the cycle VIP: Jiří Ruckl (1996) – on the Czech Senator, who also renewed the activities of his family glass factory. Projects made for Czech Television: "The Story of Lucerna" , 1995 - All that took place in Prague’s most famous concert hall and ballroom, in the turbulent years 1920-1995. "Sweet Bitterness of Lída Baarová", 1995 – A portrait of the pre-war film diva, Lída Baarová. Trenčianské Teplice Art Film Award, 1996. In cooperation with her husband, journalist and publisher Michael Třeštík, she established the Person and Time foundation, which specializes in time-lapse projects and films that reflect the passage of time and the changes that go along with it. Within this foundation she made "Attempt at an Anniversary" in 1995 - a contemplation of the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII, and "Rudolf II and Prague" in 1997 – a film about the monumental exhibition project organized at the Prague Castle. In 1998 this foundation, in co-production with Czech Television, completed "The Sweet Century", a film on the lives of several female political prisoners from the 1950s, which was awarded the Grand Prix for Documentary Film at the Karlovy Vary IFF in 1998 and the FITES Award in 1998, and "People, I Love You" on the controversial personality of the executed journalist and critic Julius Fučík and the myth that he later became. "Carmen Story" 1999 – A film about the production of Carmen at the National Theatre, featuring two explosive personalities – opera singer Dagmar Pecková and director Josef Bednárik. "Expelled from Literature" – A film on the political trials involving Catholic intellectuals in the 1950s; 1997 Trilobite Award. "Ten Years in the Life of a Young Man" , l999 - A time-lapse portrait of the controversial young director Jakub Špalek. "The Challenge" , l999 - A time-lapse portrait of the wheelchair-bound actor, Jan Potměšil. "A Kind of Happiness" , 2000 - A time-lapse film about a family who practice a lifestyle of voluntary modesty and poverty. In 2001 and 2002, Helena Třeštíková made "Women at the Turn of the Millennium", a series of time-lapse films: "Fortes and Pianos", 200l – A portrait of opera singer Dagmar Pecková. "Bára B. (Live)", 200l – A portrait of pop singer Bára Basiková. "Trapped" , 200l - Experiences of a young drug addict. Awarded at the 2001 Karlovy Vary IFF; 200l Trilobite Award. "Pleasure Without Risk", 200l - stories of Prague street prostitutes and a psychologist who gets them involved in theatre rehearsals – a documentary film in two parts. "To Be Roma Girl", 200l – Following the life of the young Roma intellectual Jarmila Balážová. "The Winner Is the One Who Doesn’t Give Up" , 200l. The story of a woman with a mentally disabled child, who does not succumb to her lot, but instead works to help others. "Nurses" , 2002. The film tracks the life of several students of a secondary healthcare school during their studies from 1989, to revisit them five years later, and observing their professional life. The film attempts to capture the transformation in Czech society over seven years, starting with the Velvet Revolution. "I Am a Woman Oriented on Women", 2002, and also the following films: "To Be Roma Boy" , 200l – Dealing with the experiences of Roma musician and activist Vojta Lavička. "Prague 2000 - European City of Culture", 200l - An emotional documentary about a unique cultural event. "Hitler, Stalin and I" , 200l - The fascinating life of survivor Heda Margolius-Kovály. "Women and Drugs, Drugs and Women" and "Trapped, and Still Trapped", both films 2003, from the series "When You Must You Must". "I Served Karel Čapek", 2003 - Karel Čapek’s housekeeper tells about her life alongside the great writer and how she saw him. "Pavel Tigrid - European" , 2004 – A portrait of journalist and author Pavel Tigrid. "My Lucky Star" , 2004 - The story of a young Jewish girl during WWII. "Skies Over Europe" , 2004 - The story of several Czech combat pilots, who served in the RAF in England during WWII.