“My dad had a Super 8 and would film us all the time. The camera gave out a nice whirr, so when I was 14, I got a hold of it and made my first short feature film about love. Many other short feature films followed, and eventually I made a full-length one. Ctibor Turba got me interested in documentary film, talking me into making TEN PAST SEVEN, NEČTINY. I really liked working on that film and, as our high school Czech teacher used to say, the appetite grows by taste.”
I applied for my regular FAMU studies three times between 1973 and 1976, without success. Having graduated from the high school, I joined the Regional Culture Centre in Hradec Králové as a photographer (1973-1974) and then the Vít Nejedlý Military Art Ensemble during my military service (1974-1976).
Following yet another unsuccessful attempt at studying at FAMU, I became an assistant film editor for Czechoslovak TV in Jindřišská Street (1976-1979). I emigrated to Germany in 1979 and studied German intensively, made one short film, edited one student film, and worked my evening job serving beer and wine as the bartender at the Creperie Breton, a French restaurant in Munich.
I moved to Minneapolis in the US one year later. There I worked as a film editor and camera man while making a number of my own author’s films using various local and national grants. Based on František Daniel’s recommendation, I also taught directing and editing at the FILM IN THE CITIES private film school in St. Paul (1982-1986).
I got married in 1980 and my wife Antonie Janková went on to become the editor of all my films. In 1986 I moved to New York City and went on working as an editor and camera man.
Alexander Hammid introduced me to the director Godfrey Reggio in 1987. I have worked with him on several films since then. I also worked on the FABRICA multimedia project in Treviso, Italy.
I have been living and working in Prague since 1996. I started teaching at KDT FAMU in 1998, and I currently lead the execution workshop. In 2007 I habilitated with my lecture, Time and Editing in Documentary Film.
Born in Náchod on 3 January 1954