Jana Boková is a Czech film director. Boková was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, but left

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in August 1968 to attend a conference of art students in Austria, then emigrated to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to study at the Sorbonne. She then lived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where she worked as a photographer for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and other magazines.Jana Boková / Czech Republic
, Doc Alliance Films. She then lived in the United Kingdom for many years, studying at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2024 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

, and producing documentary films for British television. She wrote and directed the 1986 drama film '' Hôtel du Paradis'', which was shown out of competition at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in 1987. In 2001, Boková was approached by musician

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

to direct a music video, but ended up filming a feature-length documentary film called ''Eric Clapton and Friends'' which covered Clapton's band's rehearsals and preparations for a world tour. In 2003, the

Cinémathèque Française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

hosted a complete retrospective of Boková's work. Her most recent film, ''Bye Bye Shanghai'' (2008), examines the concept of "exile" as it relates to Czech

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

s including herself. In January and February 2020, the Czech Centre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

screened two of Boková's films - ''Havana'' (1990) and ''La Confiteria Ideal: The Tango Salon'' (2004), followed by a Q&A session with Boková, led respectively by

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025) was an English television executive and presenter. He held senior roles at the BBC, including head of music and arts, controller of BBC1 and BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadca ...

and

Leslie Megahey Norman Leslie Megahey (22 December 1944 – 27 August 2022) was a British television producer, director and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated ...

. They formed part of what was to have been a three-part season of her films at the centre, with ''Bye Bye Shanghai'' set to be the final one shown on 26 March along with a Q&A session with Boková, led by TV director and writer Henrietta Foster. However, because of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was postponed indefinitely. The screening and Q&A session were subsequently rescheduled for 13 September 2021. Boková lives in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Filmography

This filmography is adapted from the Czech wikipedia article ''Militia'' ''Battlefield'' (1975) ''Just'' ''one'' ''more'' ''war'' (1977) ''Marevna and Marika'' (1977–78) ''Living Room'' (1978) ''Blue Moon'' (1980) ''Quinn Running'' (1980) ''Sunset People'' (1983) ''An Andalucian Journey'' (1985) ''Tango Mio'' (1985) ''Hôtel du Paradis'' (fiction, 1986) ''Havana'' (1990) ''An Argentinian Journey'' (1992) ''Bahia of All the Saints'' (1994) ''Diario para un cuento'' (fiction, 1998) ''Avignon'' (1999) ''Mexico'' (2000) ''Eric Clapton & Friends'' (2002) ''Tango Salon'' (2004) ''Bye Bye Shanghai'' (2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bokova, Jana Living people Czech women film directors Argentine women film directors Czech documentary film directors Argentine documentary film directors Czechoslovak emigrants to Argentina Film directors from Prague Alumni of the National Film and Television School Women documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people)