Slovak director Marek Šulík first encountered politician and lawyer Zuzana Čaputová through VIA IURIS, an NGO famous for its environmental work. Little did he realise that she was soon to run for President of Slovakia – and he was going to spend over five years making a movie about her.
The resulting documentary, Ms. President (sold by Rise and Shine), opens the 28th Ji.hlava Festival (25 Oct-3 Nov).
“I listened to some podcast where she was speaking. It was a very nice debate. Suddenly, I heard someone not using populism, and someone not making enemies,” the director says of Čaputová’s civil approach toward politics. At a time of mud-slinging, fake news and inflamed rhetoric, she put her own emphasis firmly on decency and transparency.
“I thought to myself it would be great if this woman would be President,” the director remembers thinking. That, of course, is exactly what happened. In 2019, Čaputová was elected to the role.
Šulík was already contemplating his film: “I thought it would be great to be in the palace with her for five years, following her and observing her decisions.” He asked if she might agree to such a project. It took her some time to opt in but, by then, Šulík had begun filming. He didn’t want to miss any of the key events at the start of her presidency.
Čaputová’s advisors and civil servants were all supportive of the documentary. “That is one of the nice things about the project. I spent five years with very good people. As President, she took new people to the palace, people who understood her agenda and who were able to fulfil her ideas…it was a really positive environment. I didn’t meet anybody who was angry or felt bad about my camera. Somehow, they understood this was a unique situation, that in Slovakia we had a woman in this post. It was special, valuable and needed to be recorded.”
On one level, the film plays like a cautionary tale. Čaputová took over the presidency with high ideals and great optimism but her time in the palace ended on a downbeat note.
“It is a very pessimistic situation in Slovakia according to the politics ruling the country right now. This is maybe the message of the movie – that she was trying to work as a political, but still to be the same person with the same values as at the beginning,” Šulík reflects. “She was not using populistic methods. She was trying to find constructive solutions to problems. She was a very positive politician…the question for the audience, and for myself, is if it is possible to be part of the political establishment and to stay a decent person. That was the basic question in my head from the beginning.”
The director believes Čaputová did indeed maintain her integrity – but she paid a heavy price. Her political opponents had no qualms about fighting dirty. She was attacked relentlessly and viciously. There was often an undertow of misogyny in the criticism of her.
Ms. President doesn’t delve too deeply into its subject’s private life and family, about which she was “very sensitive.” She was fiercely protective of her daughters. “We had some rules, some agreements,” the director remembers. He wasn’t allowed to film anything touching on state secrets for obvious reasons. Šulík therefore decided Ito focus entirely on “her heads, her feelings,” not to bring in her loved ones.
His observational technique harks back both to verité cinema classics like Robert Drew’s Primary (1960) and to more recent works like Pavel Koutecký’s Citizen Havel (2008), the intimate portrait of playwright-turned-statesman Vaclav Havel.
Čaputová’s presidency ran through a very turbulent period in Slovakian history. There was Covid, then the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and, not long after she stood down, the attempted assassination of prime minister Robert Fico.
The pandemic didn’t slow down the documentary. Šulík continued filming as Čaputová responded to the crisis.
Čaputová won’t be at the premiere in Ji.hlava. She is currently on sabbatical as a Bernard and Susan Liautaud Visiting Fellow at Stanford University in the US. However, she has seen the film. Her first reaction after watching an early cut in July was a little mixed. She was disappointed that Šulík didn’t focus more closely on her environmental and feminist agenda.
“She is not so satisfied with the movie. I am much more satisfied with the movie! She felt that her presidency was connected with much more positive things.”
Šulík was concentrating on that central question – how can you remain a decent person when you’re in the middle of the political cauldron? People often ask him what Čaputová is like when she is not in front of the camera. He always answers that she is much the same in private as in public – calm, reasonable but hard working and meticulous.
Despite her initial misgivings, Čaputová finally accepted the vision of her presidency given by the documentary. With her typical empathy and sensitivity, she understood the filmmaker’s point of view. Like most politicians, she is generally very keen to have as much control as she can over how she is represented in the media. However, she was able to rise above her own self-interest, view the film objectively and respect its strengths.
The Slovak and Czech press have shown huge interest in the movie. Šulík hopes her critics will watch the film. “But of course I am a little bit afraid what will happen. The populist part of the politicians are using lies and very special methods of manipulating public space.”
The film will be released in Slovakia by Film Expanded later this month and in Czech cinemas by Aerofilms in mid-November.
The hard-working Šulík is a film school teacher and editor as well as a director. At the same time he was working on Ms. President, he was also busy cutting his friend Peter Kerekes’ Wishing On A Star (which premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this autumn).
“I am very tired from this whole process,” the director sighs when asked about his next project. “I don’t know what will be next…”
