Helena Třeštíková's iconic long-term “time-lapse documentaries”

The filmography of the renowned Czech director Helena Třeštíková, who has won numerous international awards, includes more than 50 documentaries. Since the mid-1970s, she has created unobtrusive yet impressive portraits for cinema and television - often long-term observations - of married couples, personalities from Czech history and, time and again, social outsiders. Třeštíková's impressive work is about human relationships, social and political changes, and not least about the opportunites and limitations of the documentary form. Třeštíková's relationship with the protagonists of her films is characterised by an empathetic attitude, unbiased openness and curiosity towards people. She listens carefully, which often enough makes her a confidante. She is never seen in the film, only sometimes heard asking a question. Mostly she simply listens to what her protagonists have to say about their everyday lives, their dreams and aspirations, as well as about dashed hopes and difficult circumstances. Třeštíková's starting point is always the subjective point of view of the people she portrays. It is an integral part of Třeštíková's mastership that she never crosses the line into voyeurism, yet her patient observational presence often results in revelations. While the truths she lays bare are sometimes painful, she never fails to celebrate the beauty, perceverance, dignity and humanity of the people she portrays.