Original subtitles

What is the film about?

I've called the film, and I purposely say "film"

and not a documentary - a somewhat truthful film -

"Jan Saudek - Trapped by his passion, no hope for rescue",

and I called it somewhat truthful for a very prosaic reason.

And that is I don't consider it a classical documentary.

I'm not educated in film making and I didn't want to follow

the classical documentary filming methods,

I tried something new so it would be entertaining

for TV viewers, but mainly cinema viewers.

The term "somewhat truthful" is a term I always liked

as it was used in lyrics by one famous Czech artist.

The term says we could have shown

the truth about Jan Saudek, but also could stay far away from it.

The film is my view of Jan Saudek's world.

And the way it was filmed follows the pattern of the way he lives.

How would you describe the film?

It is a film for a wide range of audiences,

not for a few special interests.

My father's opinion is proof of that.

He never fancied Jan Saudek

and he was not positive about me shooting the film,

but after he saw the film, he stood up and said he enjoyed it,

and that it had changed his opinion of Jan Saudek.

For me, that means more than any other possible award.

Are you satisfied with the film, now that it is finished?

I would do it a bit differently if I could film it again.

It is my nature that I am never satisfied.

However, I am satisfied with what we've chosen from 60 hours of film.

We could have made it more controversial,

or with more mysterious appeal for intellectual critics,

but instead, we wanted it to be enjoyable

and understandable for common people, and that's what we did.

But I can not say I'm totally satisfied,

because I would do it a bit differently if I could film it again.

But I like the way we managed the editing.

Why Jan Saudek? Was that planned?

I had been fascinated by Jan Saudek

from the moment I entered the world of photography.

The main reason was that I always wanted to see longer films about him.

There were already a few short films

and a very good French documentary.

But all of them just short films about 20 minutes long.

So I decided to produce a full-length feature myself.

As I searched for a director, I could not find one

because it's not easy to find someone

who can stand being around Jan for two or three months.

So I had to direct it myself.

Do you find Jan Saudek's work impressive?

It is not his work that impresses me.

Of course the photographs fascinate me,

but I'm impressed by Jan Saudek's entire life.

It's important to mention

that it is not only Jan Saudek, or his work.

Together they become almost something like a phenomenal circus.

What was the most difficult part of this documentary?

The most difficult was when Jan stopped communicating twice.

I didn't know how to reach him and I became very stressed,

but Sara helped a lot. Some see her as a negative figure in the film

but I don't agree. She acts naturally and honestly.

The trouble was that Jan would not answer phones

and I could only leave messages with his assistants.

The next most difficult was when I had to handle

all the executive administrative duties

after doing the actual shooting and production.

You are also the film's producer.

How do you feel about a producer's position in the Czech Republic?

It is interesting that most journalists have no interest in that.

I feel we accomplished something highly interesting.

A film that cost a few Crowns

and is distributed to a large number of cinemas

and we managed it with only a small staff to work on it.

I was the executive producer, producer, director, and screenplay writer,

but there were other very capable members of the team.

Assistant directors, cameramen, film editors, etc...

I think that is a good way

to shoot independent interesting films in the Czech Republic -

not burdened by huge productions, because we're not in Hollywood.