Ještě nejsem, kým chci být

I’m Not Everything I Want to Be
Libuše Jarcovjáková documents her life with analogue photos and diary entries. Her Czechoslovakian homeland is in the repressive phase of “normalisation” after the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968. The young photographer searches for islands of freedom in Prague as well as her sexual identity; her camera is her constant companion. One of these islands is the T-Club, a meeting place for the queer scene. When a murder is committed and the police become interested in Libuše’s photos from the club, her personal journey of emancipation is abruptly cut short. She enters into a marriage of convenience and moves to West Berlin. But this new world is also filled with obstacles. Using the last of her money, she flies to Tokyo and, for a short time, becomes a sought-after fashion photographer there. Continuing to search for the life she wants to live, Libuše’s path leads her back to Prague via Berlin after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Using only photographs and the diary entries she reads out herself, the artist – together with the filmmaker – intimately relates her search for identity, everyday struggles, physicality, relationships and emotions.
by Klára Tasovská
with Libuše Jarcovjáková
Czechia / Slovakia / Austria 2024 Czech 90’ Black/White & Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Libuše Jarcovjáková

Crew

Director Klára Tasovská
Screenplay Klára Tasovská, Alexander Kashcheev
Cinematography Libuše Jarcovjáková
Editing Alexander Kashcheev
Music Oliver Torr, Prokop Korb (badfocus), Adam Matej
Sound Design Alexander Kashcheev, Michaela Patríková
Sound Michaela Patríková
Dramaturgy Viera Čákanyová, Eva Dvořáková
Producers Lukáš Kokeš, Klára Tasovská
Co-Producers Jakub Viktorín, Ralph Wieser
Co-Production nutprodukcia Bratislava
Mischief Films Wien

Klára Tasovská

Born in Třebíč in the former Czechoslovakia in 1980, she studied in the New Media Department of the Academy of Fine Arts and in the Documentary Film Department at FAMU, both in Prague. She co-directed her 2010 mid-length documentary essay Midnight and her 2012 debut feature film Fortress with Lukáš Kokeš. Both films screened at several international festivals. Her previous film, Nothing Like Before, which she also made with Lukáš Kokeš, premiered in competition at IDFA in 2017.

Filmography

2010 Půlnoc (Midnight); medium-length documentary 2012 Pevnost (Fortress); co-director: Lukáš Kokeš 2014 Gottland; anthology film, one segment 2017 Nic jako dřív (Nothing Like Before); co-director: Lukáš Kokeš 2024 Ještě nejsem, kým chci být (I’m Not Everything I Want to Be)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024