Directora

The Director Whose Film Was Banned Due to A Food Fight

Directora

Show Notes

If you're a quirky internet/Tumblr girl, the chances are super high that you've seen images of the 1966 Czech film Daisies. The images are vibrant, striking, and adorable; but the story behind the film and the reactions to it in director Věra Chytilová's home country go so much deeper than you can imagine and the film put her on a career blacklist for years. Find out why the Czech communist regime took issue with her films and attempted to ruin her career.

This episode originally aired on Grab Bag Collab's Patreon. Thank you to Amanda Rossman for sound mixing and to Brock Alter for the artwork. Directora is hosted, created, researched, and written by Stephanie Weber. Follow Directora on Instagram and TikTok. Please email [email protected] for any questions, suggestions, or compliments. I love those!

Sources for this episode:

Brockel, Cal. “Věra Chytilová: the Czech New Wave director banned by her government”. Hero Magazine. May 8, 2021. https://hero-magazine.com/article/189560/vera-chytilova

“BFI At Home: Filmmakers in Focus: Věra Chytilová”. BFI YouTube Channel. April 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwbA6aNiG7A

Čulík, Jan. “A Courageous Voice from Central Europe: The Films of Věra Chytilová”. Eastern European Film Bulletin. Volume 88. October 2018. https://eefb.org/retrospectives/The-Films-of-Vera-Chytilova

“Daises: City Cinematheque.” CUNY TV YouTube Channel. Recorded January 1, 1997. Aired February 1, 1997. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0tU4ioovoA Gray, Carmen. “Vera Chytilová for beginners”. British Film Institute. February 27, 2015. https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/vera-chytilova-beginners

Sarno, Elena Pachner. “Feminism, Destruction, and Joy in Daises”. East European Film Bulletin. Volume 88. October 2018. https://eefb.org/retrospectives/feminism-destruction-and-joy-in-daisies/

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