Tereza Kotyk
Filmmaker and curator
How did you get into film? What particularly attracted you to become part of this industry?
It brought me to film in multiple loops: besides a curatorial job, during which I produced work by other artists, and a camera apprenticeship, I studied acting in England, and on my return wrote the screenplay for a feature film, which catapulted me into a screenwriting course and finally into directing my first film (www.homeishere.at). I still curate work by artists, but the attraction of finding the narrative in a story of my own and also visualising it has remained.
What distinguishes Tirol as film region for you?
I like the ease with which you can start a conversation in Tirol. The fact that you can go scouting for locations immediately and that the combination of nature and art carries itself so well. That can be an excellent common goal, to find a common narrative at this interface.
We are curious: Tell us your favourite location in Tirol!
I am very bad at ‘having to commit to one thing’. But if I may pick up on the preceding: I like the arc of tension in Tirol. So when I think of my first film, Home is Here, the arc of ‘Architecture in the Olympic Village’ and the enchanted Berglsteinersee was a dream!
And now: The stage is yours! Please introduce yourself and your field of activity.
My cinematic work is a bit like me: multi-layered 😉 I’m less interested in facts than in effects, relationships, and influences. That’s also where I see my responsibility as a filmmaker. In Home is Here, it was important to me to allow a young woman to remain true to herself and consistently follow her own path. In my current film, NEBELKIND – The End of Silence, I’ve fully immersed myself in the perspectives of women to explore what kinds of trauma—but also what wildness and inner strength—are unconsciously passed down from generation to generation. And with that, to ask the question: what does the past do to us, and why should we confront it?
Right now, we’re once again surrounded by wars and far-right developments—even 80 years after the end of the war. And still, we fail to make it clear that we’re not alive because men go off to war, but because women survive and sustain society. If we were to give them that recognition and perspective, we could begin to develop an awareness of equality—and with it, of diversity. That would bring us closer to a deeper democratic consciousness.
I’m happy that for such an important topic we’ve found such a strong cast surrounding Jeanne Werner and Susanne Michel—including big names like Karla Melišková and James Bond villain Karel Roden.
Contact:
The Soap Room
Tereza Kotyk
Innstraße 23
6020 Innsbruck
Mob.: +43 664 5313074
Mail: tereza@thesoaproom.com
