In early May, @Antology Film Archives will present films by award-winning Czech director and documentary filmmaker Helena Třeštíková, especially her time-lapse documentaries, in Manhattan in collaboration with the Czech Center New York. #AFA will present her films René, René - Prisoner of Freedom, Katka and Marriage Stories: Zuzana and Stanislav, and Ivana and Václav.
But before the director lands in America, we asked her to share her memories of her previous visits to New York. She was happy to oblige and sent us a photo from her family archive.
"I have visited New York several times and it has always been a great experience. Walking around the city, MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum, Times Square... I simply can't name all my favorite places. Even just wandering the streets is an experience.
However, my first visit to New York with my family in 1998 was probably most memorable. We stayed with our friend, screenwriter Milena Jelinek (who died of Covid three years ago) in Upper Manhattan.
We toured the city by the hop-on hop-off bus, we got on several times and took different routes, and we were fascinated by everything we saw.
And the highlight was a visit to the World Trade Center. We went up on the roof and couldn't get away from there. At the time, no one knew what would happen three years later... Our family photo from a place that no longer exists is iconic to me."
Photo: Třeštík family archive
