Maria (1992)

Documentary filmmaker Barbara Chobocky returns to the story of her mother Marie, who left Czechoslovakia after the communist regime and found a new home in Australia. Through family archives and memories, she composes an intimate portrait of a woman marked by the loss of her homeland, separation and a lifelong search for a place between two worlds. In the film, the author combines documentary footage with letters written by her mother from emigration. In her work, she confronted the joyful childhood shots shot by her father in the 1950s with the political reality of Australia at the time. Personal memories and family materials thus acquire a broader historical context and show how great history permeates the life of an individual and the whole family. Maria is a story of emigration and a return to the past, but also a search for an answer to the question of what a person carries from their original home – and what remains of it in the next generation. Screening in cooperation with the Aussie & Kiwi Film Fest.