New York, New York, United States
Experienced Curator with a demonstrated history of working in the film industry. Strong media and communication professional, skilled in Cinema Repertory Film Production, Nonprofit Organizations, Event Management, Translation, and Fundraising.
www.comebackcompany.com Production of special programming in North America & Europe, from curatorial concept to realization. Select promotion & marketing. JURAJ HERZ: IN AND OUT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK NEW WAVE, touring retrospective Aug 2019-June 2020; THE PUPPET MASTER: THE COMPLETE JIŘÍ TRNKA, touring retrospective Apr-Dec 2018 in North America; JAN NĚMEC: MYSTIFYING THE REAL (w/ Evgeny Gusyatinskiy) IFF Rotterdam 2017; AMERICAN LANDSCAPE: THE FILMS OF KELLY REICHARDT, 2016 in Central Europe; IN CASE OF NO EMERGENCY: THE FILMS OF RUBEN ÖSTLUND, in North America 2015; INDEPENDENT OF REALITY: THE FILMS OF JAN NĚMEC, in North America, 2013/14
curator and producer of an annual 20+ film showcase of contemporary European cinema organized by European cultural, film and diplomatic institutes of 20+ countries chaired by the Czech Center New York. In its fifth year, the 2013 edition is presented in three cinemas with opening on April 10 at the IFC Center, with another special screening there, and screenings at MoMI and the festival original home, the Bohemian National Hall. visit DisappearingAct.org and DisappearingActblog.wordpress.com for more info.
an independent film programmer and Czech Film Center representative in North America. Irena co-curated 11 annual series New Czech Films with BAMcinématek and the Czech Center and curated and co-produced three editions of the Disappearing Act showcase of European Cinema for Czech Center New York at Bohemian National Hall, a program of close to 20 films each year along with industry panel discussions held in collaboration with 16 European partners. Since 2004 she's co-curated and toured in North America retrospectives of Czech Modernism: 1926-1949, Miloš Forman, Karel Vachek, Slovenian cinema, and Jim Henson's, which were shown in well over 20 venues in U.S. and Canada including MoMA, BAMcinématek, Film Society of the Lincoln Center, Pacific Film Archives, American Cinématheque, Cinématheque Ontario, Wexner Center for the Arts, and Walker Arts Center among others. She co-organized and curated monthly series of recent Czech films Rare Bohemians, Lions of Czech Film (Washington DC) and One Czech a Month (Chicago). From 1999 to 2004 she was deputy director and acting director of the Czech Center New York, where she programmed seven retrospectives of Czech films (such as surveys of Pavel Juráček, František Vláčil, Karel Zeman, Jan Švankmajer, and Věra Chytilová) and toured them in North America, and four series of New Czech Films. She promotes Czech films in North America and also distributed documentary film Czech Dream in the US. In the past she also acquired films for distribution in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Director of program of residencies for young artists from 10 Central and South Eastern European countries held in NYC. Fundraising, production and concept of joint exhibitions and events for artists in the program held in Europe. Website admin. Working on this program concurrently with independent work.
in charge of dramaturgy, production and management of cultural program in all art fields; management of team and financial management of the Center; management of marketing and all public relations including website administration