I'm Not Everything I Want To Be

Source: (c) Libuše Jarcovjáková

‘I’m Not Everything I Want To Be’

Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes has boarded Klára Tasovská’s feature documentary I’m Not Everything I Want to Be ahead of its world premiere in Berlinale’s Panorama strand.

The film follows the story of Libuše Jarcovjáková, a rebellious Czechoslovak photographer, whose openly personal body of work was only recently discovered by the international photographic community. Earlier this year the film received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Jarcovjáková’s story begins in Prague in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, when she sets off, with a camera on her neck, striving to break free from the constraints of the repressive Czechoslovakian regime.

Explaining the documentary, director Klára Tasovská said: “Libuše’s search for personal freedom, her decision not to have children, her sexual coming out, her escape to Berlin and unknown Tokyo. These story elements form the foundation for articulating themes that can inspire everyone…Her photos are actually like a photo novel…She took photos of herself after her first sexual experience, after an abortion, after a car crash, after the first time having sex with a woman, when she was unhappy or happy in different parts of the world.”

 Wouter Jansen from Square Eyes said: “Not only is Libuše Jarcovjáková an amazingly skilled photographer, she is an inspiration for generations past and present. We are very excited to get her story out there and show the world the life and work of this great artist.”

Klára Tasovská’s 2012 feature debut Fortress, directed together with Lukáš Kokeš, was awarded Best Czech documentary at Ji.hlava IDFF 2012, competed at CPH:DOX in 2012 and was nominated for the LUX Prize 2013. Her last film Nothing Like Before, also co-directed by Kokeš, premiered at IDFA in 2017.

I’m Not Everything I Want to Be is produced by Lukáš Kokeš and Tasovská herself for Somatic Films (Czech Republic), in coproduction with Jakub Viktorín for Nutprodukcia (Slovakia) and Ralph Wieser for Mischief Films (Austria), in association with ARTE G.E.I.E. and Czech Television.