Czech Republic Nominates I’m Not Everything I Want to Be for Oscars

The Czech Film and Television Academy has selected Klára Tasovská’s documentary I’m Not Everything I Want to Be as the country’s submission for best international feature at the 98th Academy Awards.

The formally daring documentary, which premiered at last year’s Berlinale and won this year’s Czech Lion for best documentary, profiles photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková, an uncompromising artist who chronicled Prague’s underground scene in the 1980s before fleeing to West Berlin. Drawing from her private diaries and thousands of analog photographs, Tasovská’s film charts Jarcovjáková’s life from the dissident art circles of communist Czechoslovakia to high-fashion shoots in Tokyo.

The Oscar selection marks the first time the Czech academy has chosen its candidate through a two-round process. From a shortlist of three — Broken Voices, Caravan and I’m Not Everything I Want to Be — the latter was selected by 194 eligible academy members.

Last year’s Czech entry, Jiří Mádl’s Waves, reached the Oscars’ international feature shortlist but did not secure a nomination. The Czech Republic has scored three wins in the category, including Jan Svěrák’s Kolya (1996) and, under the Czechoslovak banner, The Shop on Main Street (1965) and Jiří Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains (1966). The last Czech film to receive a nomination was Ondřej Trojan’s Želary in 2003.

The Academy will announce the 15-film international feature shortlist on Dec. 16, with nominations revealed Jan. 22. The Oscars take place March 15 in Los Angeles.