You’ll be working with Barbora Chalupová (Virtual Girlfriends, Caught in the Net) on her feature film debut, Turquoise Mountain. What’s the story about?

It’s about Dina Štěrbová, a mountain climber who scaled two eight-thousanders [Editor’s Note: the “eight-thousanders” are the 14 tallest mountains on earth, all over 8,000 meters in height] and broke several Czechoslovak records. She climbed with Věra Komárková, who emigrated to the US after 1968. At that time, the mountaineering association rarely allowed women to travel abroad, so she had to fight for it. She isn’t a typical hero, though. She’s extremely introverted and emotionally reserved. She taught mathematics at Palacký University in Olomouc. The script is still being edited, but we already filmed a sample for the Czech Audiovisual Fund application.

 

Does this mean you’ll be climbing mountains with a camera?

I hope so! Bára [Chalupová] and I are both fans of the outdoors, which is one of the reasons we get along so well. We already shot part of the trailer on a glacier in Austria. Rather than approaching the film as a classic bio-pic, we want to explore the conflict between the two characters and Dina’s internal struggles.

 

You also directed the documentaries Efka:The Fastest Girl in the Universe, about snowboard crosser Eva Adamczyková, and Respect Her Game, about the Czech women’s national hockey team. Are you drawn to sports?

I’ve been involved in sports my whole life. It runs in the family—the men in my family were in the army special forces. I also practice combat sports, and one of my dreams is to make a film about them. Markus Krug, the director, approached me about Efka, and there ended up being several other cameramen on the project Respect Her Game was commissioned by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. Even though it wasn’t a subject close to my heart, I flew to New York with the whole team for the championship to try it out, and I saw it had great potential. So I approached producer Julie Žáčková and convinced her to make a feature film instead of the originally planned Internet series. I directed the film together with Tereza Vejvodová, since I’d already committed part of my time to the miniseries Moloch. It’s a subject I feel connected to, so I’d be happy to have more sports-themed projects come my way.

 

What does the visual aspect of Respect Her Game look like? 

I couldn’t film the action on ice during matches, since the major media corporations own the rights to that. It was similar with Efka. So the visual style was heavily influenced by conditions. I knew I had to use small equipment—we were shooting with Panasonic Lumix S1H and S5 II cameras—and I knew how to light and stylize the interviews, which make up most of the film. I also took turns with cameraman Jakub Vrbík. In general I prefer to work with static and wide shots, focusing on the characters. For the hockey, we used slow motion to emphasize the speed and dynamics. We also worked extensively with footage from TV broadcasts and archives, and often VHS tapes provided by the players. Combining these three types of media was quite a challenge.

 

How is your project on Roma coming along?

The title is Bak, which in the local dialect means “a stain.” It explores the theme of Roma as a blind spot in society. It’s a pet project of mine, so I’m both director and cinematographer. Originally, it was supposed to be an experimental film focusing on the southern Slovak region of Gemer, but my longstanding interest in racism, especially toward Romani people in Slovakia, also found its way in. Bak evolved into a longer film with several chapters.

 

What visual style are you planning for the film?

I use a different visual style for each chapter. One, for example, shows a big police raid on the Moldava settlement in 2013. I shot it in black-and-white because I didn’t want any visual elements or colors to distract from the brutality. Other chapters are more poetic, in the style of music videos or documentaries. The story follows a Roma child as they grow up and age into adulthood. I was inspired by Elena Lacková’s autobiography, I Was Born Under a Lucky Star [1997; the English translation, A False Dawn: My Life as a Gypsy Woman in Slovakia, was published in 2000].

 

You became famous for Moloch, a CANAL+ miniseries about international political conspiracies, which also won you the Slovak Cinematographers Association Award for Best Series. How do you look back on it now?

Everyone back then laughed at me, since unlike other cinematographers I don’t use extra lights—I like darkness! It’s true I prefer dark images, but Moloch is my brightest series, actually. When I read a script, a visual solution pops into my head right away. Then I start thinking about how to approach it, but I usually come back to my initial idea. That was the case with Moloch too. I saw it in cool blue colors combined with sand and beige. Then we looked for locations based on that. Right from the start, director Lukáš Hanulák and I knew we wanted to shoot it in Cinemascope. Unlike the classic Czech crime series that all use handheld cameras, we wanted everything to be carefully framed, with clean camera movement.

 

You also have the fantasy series Vedma to your credit. That’s a very wide range of genres and styles. What do you enjoy most?

It’s hard to say. I originally wanted to be an investigative journalist or a reporter on the front lines. That’s why, from a personal perspective, I feel most comfortable with documentaries. They bring me back down to earth, reminding me the world isn’t just about movies and commercials and we live very privileged lives here. I believe visual storytelling can raise awareness and “make the world a better place.” Of course I’m also drawn to topics like Moloch. I enjoy political, military, and action-packed topics; I get a kick out of running around with special forces holding a camera.

 

Working with Cinemascope, aren’t you sad that people are watching Moloch on their phones?

Unlike many cinematographers, I’m not obsessed with technology. I believe technology should primarily serve the story and the work. I feel the same when it comes to format, and I understand the need to deliver content to social platforms. So I’m not offended if someone watches Moloch on their phone. Not everyone is a film freak who needs to experience it in IMAX. What bothers me more is when the camera shows off too much. As a viewer, that makes me feel disconnected from the story. What I appreciate most is when the cinematographer uses the technology to serve the plot.

 

What did you learn from making commercials?

It’s a great school for learning techniques. There’s a lot of money in advertising, and the projects are short-term, so you have more freedom to experiment with different equipment and techniques. Whereas with films and series, you have a technical setup from the start that you rarely deviate from. Working on series has taught me a lot about visual storytelling and time management, but I still need to catch up on technical procedures, and making commercials is the best way to do that. I want to devote more time to commercials this year.