Born in 1931, Zuzana Mináčová has long been an influential figure in Czech and Slovak photography, and is especially famous for her work snapping celebrities at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Not for the first time, she has inspired her son, versatile Slovak filmmaker Matej Mináč, to make an excellent film drawing upon her extraordinary life.
While 1999’s acclaimed All My Loved Ones (Všichni moji blízcí) dramatised elements of her childhood, Mináč’s latest film, while still containing passages reconstructing past events, is much closer to a documentary tribute to his mother. Reminiscing over a glorious career filled with no few brushes with fame, Mináčová reflects upon a life lived under fascism, communism, and capitalism, all the while burdened with a terrible secret.
Through the Eyes of the Photographer will be preceded by the short film The Still Life of Věra (dir. Greta Stocklassová, 2015, Czech Republic, 9 min).
