In this documentary portrait, Iva Janžurová – an icon of Czech cinema, television and theatre – is seen through the sensitive eyes of her own daughter, documentary filmmaker Theodora Remundová. This closest of all possible relationships allows the director to get unusually near to her subject. She reveals not only Iva Janžurová’s estimable present-day work but also her past career and personal life in the period context. An observational style mixes naturally with staged scenes in which photographs from Iva’s childhood and significant moments in her history are brought to life in a playful manner. We encounter important places and people, delving into not only private correspondence but the movies and theatrical productions in which she performed. The personal theme of love – as lover, partner, mother – proves fertile ground for a passion for the acting profession, intersecting with an analytical thoroughness in her reflections on acting. An essential element is the “ordinariness” that Iva Janžurová has retained, despite her privileged position, along with her innate humanity and connection with the audience and her ambition to do her best, whether in the most remote regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia or on the boards of the National Theatre. We get to know a woman that a large section of the Czech and Slovak public relate to, via film, TV and theatre stories and the characters she embodied, and embodies, in those fields.

Writer / Theodora Remundová    Story / Theodora Remundová    DoP / Jan Šípek    Editor / Jakub Hejna    Sound / Štěpán Škoch    Music / Tadeáš Verčák

Release date / 26 September 2024

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