Of the Near and the Distant
A film portrait of the artist Adriena Šimotová
Author, Petr Záruba
The portrait arose as a second-year film (2002) in the department of documentary filmmaking — which is partially reflected in its somewhat pedantic construction. Fortunately, the mistakes of the fledgling filmmakers is overshadowed by the personality of Adriena Šimotová. The primary inspiration was a book of poems by AŠ Head for Browsing and the diaries of her grandmother Mathilde, of Swiss-French origin, who greatly influenced Adriena. The name of the film refers to one of Adriena Šimotová’s older exhibitions.
PETR ZÁRUBA (born 1972) studied in the Natural Sciences department of Charles University and at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (in the field of documentary filmmaking). He tries to support himself through documentary filmmaking. In a coproduction with Czech Television, he filmed a portrait of the husband of Adriena Šimotová, the painter Jiří John, Fruit Falling on its Own. He has created several documentary films for Czech Television with primarily historical themes (Students of a Special Campaign, The Great War Report.)
(available only in Czech language)
