Directing

Mišo Suchý

Born 1965-07-10 · Bratislava, Czechoslovakia [now Slovakia]

Mišo makes photographs and films with his family on both sides of the ocean, reflecting on experiences and familial narratives, some small and some not so small. Suchý’s films have screened in numerous film festivals in the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Poland and the former Czechoslovakia, where Suchý is originally from. Suchý has been a visiting artist at the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House; the Yale University School of Art; Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo; and Cornell Cinema, among others. His film “Dzhavas Mange Dlugone Dromeha” was screened at the Centre George Pompidou, Paris, in a retrospective of Czech and Slovak documentary cinema. His photographs, often part of his long-term projects, were exhibited in the Photographers’ Gallery, London; the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.; the National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia; and published in National Geographic Magazine, GEO, The Philadelphia Inquirer and others. His monograph “When I Was and Was Not at Home” was published by FOTOFO Foundation. Suchý’s film work is supported by grants from such foundations as the PRO-HELVETIA Foundation, Boston Film & Video Foundation, PRO-SLOVAKIA Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts. His films and photographs are in the collections of the National Center for Cinematography, Slovakia; the National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia; the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; and the George Eastman House.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Transmitting Baba poster
10.0

An ocean stood between Baba and her grandson, so she did the only thing she could: she became a whale and swam to him.

Transmitting Baba

2001

Transmitting Baba poster
10.0

An ocean stood between Baba and her grandson, so she did the only thing she could: she became a whale and swam to him.

Transmitting Baba

2001

Prysia’s Garden poster
10.0

An intimate meditation on exile and home, Prysia’s Garden portrays the quiet life of aging Ukrainian refugee Prysia through the detailed photographic lens of first-generation Ukrainian-American Lida Suchy. By confronting Prysia’s story, Lida reflects upon her own roots, looking to understand what makes a new place a home.

Prysia’s Garden

2015

Giving Voice poster
10.0

Giving Voice is a musical documentary about a community choir in Central New York that uses singing as a tool to foster broad social inclusiveness and community building.

Giving Voice

2009

Giving Voice poster
10.0

Giving Voice is a musical documentary about a community choir in Central New York that uses singing as a tool to foster broad social inclusiveness and community building.

Giving Voice

2009

Home Movie: A Diary for my American-Born Son poster
10.0

A film about homes on both sides of an ocean.

Home Movie: A Diary for my American-Born Son

2003

Home Movie: A Diary for my American-Born Son poster
10.0

A film about homes on both sides of an ocean.

Home Movie: A Diary for my American-Born Son

2003

A Short Film for Lida poster
10.0

A love letter told through still photographs

A Short Film for Lida

2003

A Short Film for Lida poster
10.0

A love letter told through still photographs

A Short Film for Lida

2003

Pictograph poster
10.0

Vignettes of life in the village Kryvorivnya in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, where once the novel "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" was written and later filmed and where, to this day, the passage of time has its own pace.

Pictograph

2007

Pictograph poster
10.0

Vignettes of life in the village Kryvorivnya in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, where once the novel "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" was written and later filmed and where, to this day, the passage of time has its own pace.

Pictograph

2007

About Dogs And People poster
NR

When I first arrived in America, (from my native Slovakia), I neither spoke nor understood a word of English and I soon found myself in the position of a mute creature. Perhaps it was this experience of muteness that inspired me to make a film about America from the perspective of a creature that neither speaks nor understands this country’s language or ways. Dogs can’t speak, but they can tell a lot about the society in which they live. About Dogs and People is an account of my journey across America to explore its’ canine culture. The film is made in the form of an essay: it uses authentic footage, but presents the material in a subjective way. Derived from my experience with non-verbal communication, the film “speaks” through imagery, using the vocabulary of archetypal gesture, tone, melody and rhythm.

About Dogs And People

1993

About Dogs And People poster
NR

When I first arrived in America, (from my native Slovakia), I neither spoke nor understood a word of English and I soon found myself in the position of a mute creature. Perhaps it was this experience of muteness that inspired me to make a film about America from the perspective of a creature that neither speaks nor understands this country’s language or ways. Dogs can’t speak, but they can tell a lot about the society in which they live. About Dogs and People is an account of my journey across America to explore its’ canine culture. The film is made in the form of an essay: it uses authentic footage, but presents the material in a subjective way. Derived from my experience with non-verbal communication, the film “speaks” through imagery, using the vocabulary of archetypal gesture, tone, melody and rhythm.

About Dogs And People

1993

Slovakia 2.0 poster
NR

What is “Slovakia”? How to explain the notion of “Slovakia” of the past 20 years to an unknown stranger, a visitor from another planet? What is the genetic makeup or the software for “Slovakia”? How to use it? How does it change? Slovakia 2.0 is a film about twenty years of independent Slovakia as seen from the perspective of ten film directors. It is composed of ten 10-minute films of different genres ranging from drama, through animation and documentaries, to experimental film. The ten recognised film directors who offer an answer to what is Slovakia include a wide range of generations, views and genres, namely Juraj Herz, Martin Šulík, Peter Kerekes, Zuzana Liová, Mišo Suchý, Ondrej Rudavský, Iveta Grófová, Peter Krištúfek, Viera Čákanyová, and Miro Jelok.

Slovakia 2.0

2014

Slovakia 2.0 poster
NR

What is “Slovakia”? How to explain the notion of “Slovakia” of the past 20 years to an unknown stranger, a visitor from another planet? What is the genetic makeup or the software for “Slovakia”? How to use it? How does it change? Slovakia 2.0 is a film about twenty years of independent Slovakia as seen from the perspective of ten film directors. It is composed of ten 10-minute films of different genres ranging from drama, through animation and documentaries, to experimental film. The ten recognised film directors who offer an answer to what is Slovakia include a wide range of generations, views and genres, namely Juraj Herz, Martin Šulík, Peter Kerekes, Zuzana Liová, Mišo Suchý, Ondrej Rudavský, Iveta Grófová, Peter Krištúfek, Viera Čákanyová, and Miro Jelok.

Slovakia 2.0

2014