Filmography content overview:
- Objectives, approach and development process
- Self-produced works
- EU Project Films MaGICLandscapes
- EU Project Films TransEcoNet
- EU Project Film SISTEMa-PARC
Objective, approach and development process
In her documentary work, Lenka Ovčáčková aims to present all aspects of her interviewees’ memories and perceptions in a profound, holistic and transparent manner, thereby building a bridge across borders.
When creating her documentary films, Lenka does not use a written script; she carries the rough shape of the script in her head. The process always begins with an idea, which is developed and fleshed out dynamically during the creation of the film, e.g. through the individual statements of the interviewees. The interview process employs methods of oral history and phenomenological interpretative analysis. This approach to documentary filmmaking enables her to capture the diversity of life experiences while minimising the influence of her own ideas and interpretations. Her extensive historical knowledge provides an important foundation for her work.
This variety of approaches is emphasised through the careful and sensitive selection of relevant interview statements, as well as through the use of appropriate music and symbolic landscape shots. Many of her films feature quotations from notable historical writers, philosophers or scientists from the region in question. Lenka has been developing this original film method since 2005, using it in all her documentaries to date.
Self-produced documentaries
These films were created by one person: Lenka developed the screenplay, operated the camera, recorded the sound, edited the film and directed it. The documentary filmmaker also financed a significant portion of the project herself.
Light for the future (2025)
Light for the Future is a poetic, multi-layered documentary film about three 90-year-old women from German-speaking Czech families. They recount their experiences of being expelled at the end of the Second World War.
Find out more about the documentary “Light for the Future” (including film trailer).
Im Einen Alles, im All nur Eines (2017)
The bilingual German-Czech-Austrian documentary film Im Einen Alles, im All nur Eines [V jednom vše, ve všem jen jedno] focuses on the reflection of narrated memories in space and time in the borderlands of the Gratzener Bergland.
Find out more about the documentary “Im Einen Alles, im All nur Eines” (including film trailer).
Tiefe Kontraste (2015)
The bilingual documentary film Tiefe Kontraste [Hluboké kontrasty] is dedicated to the diversity of life in the German-Czech-Austrian Bohemian Forest region.
Find out more about the documentary “Tiefe Kontraste” (including film trailer).
Freiheitsdrang (2015)
The Austrian-Czech documentary Freiheitsdrang [Touha po svobodě] depicts the overcoming of various forms of ‘limitation’ through the personal life stories of two female artists.
Find out more about the documentary “Freiheitsdrang” (including film trailer).
EU Project-films MaGICLandscapes
Documentary films by Lenka Ovčáčková produced as part of the EU project MaGICLandscapes (Managing Green Infrastructure in Central European Landscapes, EU Interreg Central Europe Project):
to be in relationship with nature (2020)
The Austrian-Czech documentary film To be in Relationship with Nature explores the various ways of living and engaging with the environment in the Moravian-Lower Austrian border region.
Find out more about the documentary “To be in Relationship with Nature” (including the full-length film).
Connected by the landscape (2020)
The German-Czech documentary film Connected by the Landscape reflects on the active lifestyles of engaged people in the Dübener Heide and in the German-Czech-Polish border triangle.
Find out more about the documentary “Connected by the Landscape” (including the full-length film).
Footprints in the Mosaic of the Giant Mountains (2020)
The Czech-Polish-German documentary film Footprints in the Mosaic of the Giant Mountains explores historical and contemporary perspectives on nature, landscapes, and people in the Giant Mountains.
Find out more about the documentary “Footprints in the Mosaic of the Giant Mountains” (including the full-length film).
Landscape as a living Organism? (2020)
The Czech documentary Landscape as a Living Organism? explores the relationship between the people of the Kyjovsko region and their landscape and nature.
Find out more about the documentary “Landscape as a living Organism?” (including the full-length film).
In Harmony with the inner and the outer Nature (2020)
The Italian documentary film In Harmony with the Inner and Outer Nature [In armonia con la natura interiore ed esteriore] focuses on nature and the people in the Piedmont regions of the Turin hills and the Turin river landscapes of the Po.
Find out more about the documentary “In Harmony with the inner and the outer Nature” (including the full-length film).
EU Project-films TransEcoNet
Documentary films by Lenka Ovčáčková produced as part of the EU project TransEcoNet (Transnational Ecological Networks in Central Europe, EU Interreg Central Europe):
People in Borderlands (2012)
In the Central European context, the oral history documentary People in Borderlands reflects the great ecological diversity and high ecological value of the landscapes using the example of four cross-border regions between Germany, Czechia, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia.
Find out more about the documentary “People in Borderlands” (including the full-length film).
Die gemeinsame Vielfalt (2012)
The German-Slovenian documentary film Die gemeinsame Vielfalt [Skupna raznolikost] highlights individual perceptions of character and strategies for active living shaped by the common diversity of the landscapes in the trilateral project region of Goričko (Slovenia), Örség (Hungary) and Pinkatal (Austria).
Find out more about the“Die gemeinsame Vielfalt” (including the full-length film).
Grenzen und Menschen um den Neusiedlersee (2011)
The documentary film Grenzen und Menschen um den Neusiedlersee [Határok és emberek a Fertö tó környékén] about the Austro-Hungarian border region around Lake Neusiedl highlights both the life experiences of the older generation and the reflections of the younger generation.
Find out more about the documentary “Grenzen und Menschen um den Neusiedlersee”(including the full-length film).
Die verlorene und wiedergefundene Landschaft (2012)
The documentary film Die verlorene und wiedergefundene Landschaft [Ztracená a znovunalezená krajina] depicts the life stories of people and landscapes in the Czech-German-Polish border regions.
Find out more about the documentary “Die verlorene und wiedergefundene Landschaft” (including the full-length film).
Im Einklang mit der Natur (2011)
The documentary film Im Einklang mit der Natur [V souladu s přírodou] was filmed in the Beskid Mountains, the White Carpathians, the landscapes along the Thai and March rivers, and in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest in collaboration with representatives of both the older and younger generations.
Find out more about the documentary “Im Einklang mit der Natur” (including the full-length film).
EU Projekt-Film SISTEMa-PARC
Documentary film by Lenka Ovčáčková, produced as part of the EU project SISTEMa-PARC (Spatial Information Systems for Transnational Environmental Management of Protected Areas and Regions in Central Europe, EU Interreg Central Europe):
Landschaft und Erinnerung (2006)
The documentary film Landschaft und Erinnerung explores the cross-border protected area of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and the neighbouring Schluckenau Zipfel. Based on oral history interviews, it illustrates the historical transformations and current state of these landscapes in the Czech-Bohemian border region.
Find out more about the documentary “Landschaft und Erinnerung”(including the full-length film).
© cover photo: Miroslav Pavko
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