Jana Boková

Directing

Jana Boková

Boková (born in 1948) is a Czech film director. Born in Prague, she left Czechoslovakia at the time of the Soviet invasion in August 1968 to attend a conference of art students in Austria, then emigrated to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne. She then lived in the United States and worked as a contributing photographer for Rolling Stone magazine, and subsequently became a film student at the …

Known For

Before Night FallsBefore Night Falls · 2000
Before Night Falls
6.72000
MovieDrama
Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.
Night WatchNight Watch · 2005
Night Watch
5.72005
MovieDrama
A long night's journey into day: Victor, a street hustler in the Santa Fe and Pueyrredón neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, from the evening of November 1, All Saints Day, to the dawn of November 2, All Souls Day. Victor's odyssey takes him from clients to friends to a gay gym then a hotel room and an all-night café. He plays pick-up soccer with kids whose parents are going through trash or waiting in parks. A vendor gives him a chrysanthemum. It seems he's being followed, and on the night streets, death is close at hand. Can Victor survive until dawn?
Paradise HotelParadise Hotel · 1986
Paradise Hotel
9.01986
MovieDrama
A diverse group of guests gather in a small hotel in Paris to contemplate the state of their lives in this pretentious drama. Joseph Goldman (Fernando Rey) is a washed-up Hollywood actor making a living in the dinner-theater circuit. Accompanied by his wife Sarah (Carole Regnier), Goldman meets Frederique (Berangere Bonvoisin), who is hiding from her former lover. French financier Arthur (Fabrice Luchini) hopes to get into the film industry and bends the ear of a British director (Michael Medwin). The talkative film has little action, and none of the characters evoke much interest or resolve their dilemma.
HavanaHavana · 1990
Havana
7.51990
MovieDocumentary
The citizens of Havana talk about their lives, their city and Cuba under Castro.
Sunset PeopleSunset People · 1984
Sunset People
8.01984
MovieDocumentary
Sunset Boulevard stretches 27 miles from Los Angeles’ Chinatown all the way to the ocean – a ride made famous by Philip Marlowe in the Chandler books. Film star mansions give way to tatty motels; exclusive offices stand alongside nightclubs with aspiring comics, and amateur nude contests. Then the famous ‘strip’ and Hollywood’s legendary coffee shop, Schwabs, where (they say) a girl in a tight sweater turned into Lana Turner. Meet some of Sunset’s most colourful and improbable residents – the failed showbiz impresario who made his millions selling cookies, and the high-rise developer who let John Wayne take his cow up in the lift… the lucky ones have achieved a peculiarly Hollywood brand of success, but every day on Sunset you meet the other ones: still looking for a break, for a job, for a deal. All of them still trying to play their part in the Hollywood dream.
Diary for a TaleDiary for a Tale · 1998
Diary for a Tale
7.01998
MovieDrama
A young man works in the port of Buenos Aires translating the love letters that prostitutes receive and seeks inspiration for his works in them.
Eric Clapton and FriendsEric Clapton and Friends · 2003
Eric Clapton and Friends
8.02003
MovieDocumentaryMusic
In 2001, Boková was approached by musician Eric Clapton 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.
Militia BattefieldMilitia Battefield · 1975
Militia Battefield
1975
MovieDocumentary
An unusual documentary that looks at the gay clubs and expatriate entertainers in London who exist in a bizarre subculture. It focuses on the story of Militia Battlefield, a young singer in search of work, and a homosexual pianist who has just married an old lady.

Filmography

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Sunset PeopleSunset People · 1984
Sunset People
8.01984
MovieDocumentary
Sunset Boulevard stretches 27 miles from Los Angeles’ Chinatown all the way to the ocean – a ride made famous by Philip Marlowe in the Chandler books. Film star mansions give way to tatty motels; exclusive offices stand alongside nightclubs with aspiring comics, and amateur nude contests. Then the famous ‘strip’ and Hollywood’s legendary coffee shop, Schwabs, where (they say) a girl in a tight sweater turned into Lana Turner. Meet some of Sunset’s most colourful and improbable residents – the failed showbiz impresario who made his millions selling cookies, and the high-rise developer who let John Wayne take his cow up in the lift… the lucky ones have achieved a peculiarly Hollywood brand of success, but every day on Sunset you meet the other ones: still looking for a break, for a job, for a deal. All of them still trying to play their part in the Hollywood dream.

Director