Adam Oľha

Born in 1984 in Košice, Slovakia. Adam Oľha studied FAMU - Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he graduated in 2011 from the documentary department. In 2006, he studied for one semester abroad at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Lisbon, Portugal.

He has directed several short films, one of which, Martin-Lisabon (2007) was selected for several film festivals, among them Jihlava IFF and Cinema du Réel.

His graduation film A New Life of the Family Album (2012) won the audience award at Jihlava IFF and was selected for Hot Docs IFF in Toronto and other European film festivals, collecting several prizes, among them the Associated Press Focal International award for best use of private footage material and the Tatra Bank award for best young director. The film was released in theatres in 2013.

He has also directed documentaries for the Czech TV. He works as cinematographer for both digital and film, working on feature documentaries. He has participated in several workshops as an educator in Burma, Czechia and Poland. Oľha worked on portraits of Josef Koudelka and Antonin Kratochvil, two of the central names in contemporary Czech photography; and Petr Kotík, an important composer and organizer of contemporary music events. He is currently working with Jan Švankmajer on his most recent feature film Insects as director of photography for the documentary section. His latest project (in progress) is a documentary about Jan Švankmajer called Athanor: the Alchemic Kiln.

Adam Oľha lives in Prague and Marseille and has a daughter named Magdalena.

Filmography

2017

• Hmyz/Insects. Director of photography. Director: Jan Švankmajer.
• Athanor: The Alchemic Kiln. Feature documentary on Jan Švankmajer’s work. (in progress).

2016

• Untamable Kotik. A film portrait of composer Petr Kotik, featuring Philip Glass, George Lewis, Ostravská Banda (TV).
• Czechoslovaks in the Gulag. Documentary. Director: Marta Nováková, DOP (TV).

2015

• Czech photography: Exiles. Featuring Josef Koudelka, Antonín Kratochvíl, Vojta Dukát (TV).
• Chroniclers. Featuring Viktor Kolář, Karel Cudlín, Jiří Hanke (TV).
• Film Arsenal. A collaboration with the National Film Archive (TV).

2014: One Year with Fulbright (TV).
2012: A New Life of Family Album.
2011: Monitor venkova: Czech modern architecture (TV).
2010: CERN, or The Factory for the Absolute. Dir. Jan V. Sacher (cinematography).
2009: Czech Hump. Dir. Lucie Kralova (cinematography).
2007: Martin-Lisabon.
2005: Cultivators of holiness/Pěstitelé Svatosti and Světlík/Air Shaft.
2003: Smrt lesní.