Věra Chytilová

Věra Chytilová (1929–2014) was a Czech filmmaker and one of the most influential directors in world cinema. A leading figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave, she studied philosophy and architecture before becoming one of the first women to train in directing at Prague’s FAMU film school. From the outset, her films challenged cinematic conventions through bold formal experimentation, dark humour, and a fiercely independent vision.

Her early works, The Ceiling (1961) and A Bag Full of Fleas (1962), already explored women’s lives and emancipation with remarkable originality. Chytilová achieved international acclaim with Daisies (1966), a radical, visually inventive satire that became one of the defining films of the 1960s and a landmark of feminist and avant-garde cinema. Although Daisies remains her best-known work, it is part of a rich and diverse filmography marked by formal innovation and sharp social critique.

Following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Chytilová was effectively banned from filmmaking for several years because of her uncompromising artistic and political stance. She returned to directing in the mid-1970s and continued making films that questioned authority, conformity, and gender roles. After the Velvet Revolution, she joined the faculty of FAMU, where she later became head of the directing department, mentoring a new generation of filmmakers. Today, Chytilová is celebrated as one of the most original and influential voices in European cinema.