Vojta Lavička: Nahoru a Dolů

Vojta Lavička: Ups and Downs

Wie bei vielen Projekten von Helena Třeštíková handelt es sich auch bei VOJTA LAVIČKA: NAHORU A DOLŮ um eine dokumentarische Langzeitbeobachtung. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Geiger und Aktivist Vojta Lavička, den die Regisseurin 16 Jahre mit der Kamera begleitete. Als Roma hat Vojta mit zahlreichen Problemen zu kämpfen. Demütigungen und Drohungen sind an der Tagesordnung. Im ständigen Auf und Ab von Erfolgen und Misserfolgen wird der Alltag immer wieder aufs Neue zu einem energieraubenden Kraftakt. Nur auf der Bühne kann Vojta mit seiner Band „gipsy.cz“ seine schwierige Situation vergessen. Dort wird er bejubelt.

Longitudinal documentary film shot over the past 16 years. The main protagonist is Roma musician and activist Vojta Lavička. Vojta is a master violin player, who focuses not only on music but also deals with problems for his Roma ethnic group. Vojta is very active in the media – he worked on the national radio and television, he worked for the NGO that organizes street work in Romani ghettos around the Czech Republic. Vojta also worked as a social worker. All in all we can watch him struggling with the main topic of his life – his ethnic minority and problems caused by living next to the Czech majority. Aside from this the film explores Vojta’s private life and his struggle to be a good musician and a good man.

Regie Biografie

Helena Třeštíková, born 1949 in Prague, Czech Republic. She studied documentary filmmaking at the Prague Film Academy and, since graduating in 1974, has been working as a professional filmmaker, shooting more than thirty documentaries of various lengths. Her films have been the subject of retrospectives at several major festivals. // Films (selected): DOTEK SVĚTLA (Touch of Light, 1980, doc), MARCELA (2007, doc), RENÉ (2008, doc; CE '09), SOUKROMÝ VESMÍR (Private Universe, 2012, doc; CE '13), VOJTA LAVIČKA: NAHORU A DOLŮ (Vojta Lavička: Ups and Downs, 2013, doc)