(Non)professional Experiments with a Family. Family Films (of Jan Kučera) as an Example of Artistic Practice (Non)professional Experiments with a Family. Family Films (of Jan Kučera) as an Example of Artistic Practice
2016
Abstract
The starting point of this text is the estate of the Czech cameraman Jaroslav Kučera, which includes, among other things, family films on 16mm (or 35mm) film stock from the era of his marriage to the director Věra Chytilová, i. e. from mid-1960s to mid-1970s. The aim of the text, however, is not to introduce a media representation of Kučera's marriage to Věra Chytilová and his private family life but rather more general considerations about family film.
The key moments are those, in which the films escape, disrupt traditional definitions (particularly those of Roger Odin and Alexandra Schneider, but also those of Ryan Shand) and approach artistic practice.