Miroslav Janek. Retrospective

Vierka, Or the Mystery of Family B's Disappearance

Year
2005
Country
Czech Republic
Duration
76’

This documentary started out as a portrait of a young talented Roma singer but turned into a drama about two different views of "the truth". Initially, the story describes the encounter between singer Ida Kelarova and a young Roma girl named Vierka Berkyova from Lucenec, Slovakia whose musical talent astonishes everyone who hears her sing. It focuses on her talent and spontaneity, but also deals with the notion of helping those around us. It presents a new step forward in the life of the Berky family, and investigates the idea of mutual coexistence as it explores the desire to create an idyll in which the two families share a home. One day the Berkys suddenly leave Kelarova's home, mysteriously disappearing without a trace. For director and cameraman Miroslav Janek, the documentary becomes the means of uncovering the hidden, in part unacknowledged, forces that determine one's ideas about the meaning of life and its fulfillment. The viewer never actually finds out the real reasons for this dramatic turn of events and must be satisfied to merely approach the truth of the mystery.

22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
Battle for Life
Miroslav Janek. Retrospective
Battle for Life
Year
2000
Country
Czech Republic
Directors
Miroslav Janek, Roman Vavra, Vit Janecek
Duration
90’
Miroslav Janek. Retrospective
Kha-Chee-Pae
Miroslav Janek. Retrospective
Kha-Chee-Pae
Year
2006
Country
Czech Republic
Director
Miroslav Janek
Duration
57’
Miroslav Janek. Retrospective