Women would like to have career and motherhood. Help movie WITH HER

We decided to make a short film about the issue of combining motherhood and career—being mother remains one of the biggest factors contributing to discrimination against women in the labor market, both in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the world. We consider the topic to be important, and thanks to its original treatment, the project has the potential to resonate not only with the film community but also with the general public, helping to open up a debate about the conditions parents face in the workplace.

Our film can inspire not only other female filmmakers to start speaking openly about this issue and fight for better conditions, but also women in leadership positions who are forced to walk a tightrope. This film can spark discussions at festivals, within film institutions, and across many other sectors. If we want change, we must bring the topic beyond social bubbles. For us, this project is not just an auteur film of Františka Bakošová, but also an important step toward initiating change.

Through this film, we want to highlight the issue of the “double role” of women in Czech society—a problem that is still insufficiently addressed. Even though many women point out this dilemma, in a patriarchal society they lack the platform and influence to bring about real solutions. In the film industry, only 17% of the key creative roles that shape the final audiovisual work are held by women. When they do address these issues in their work, it is often perceived as controversial and becomes the target of unpleasant comments, especially from men.

Women working in the Czech film industry are not given space for both motherhood and a career. It’s mostly presented as a done deal: either a career or motherhood. But the emptiness caused by the absence of one or the other—whether parenthood or a fulfilling career—is rarely considered. This isn’t just a problem in the film industry. According to studies, only 13–34% of leadership positions in the Czech Republic are held by women, and many studies directly link these numbers to the demands of motherhood. Even though this situation is often seen as final and unchangeable, in other countries it is possible to combine career and parenthood. So what’s the problem in the Czech Republic?

The Czech Republic lags behind the Western world. This is a result of broader societal sexist processes that discriminate against women—processes that are, among other things, fueled by the lack of representation of these topics in Czech cinema. It is a pressing and relevant issue that affects us personally, as we ourselves would like to be mothers and filmmakers in the future.

And so, the idea for our film was born…

The story follows a forty-year-old director who spends most of her life on set. Like everyone, she has dreams—in her case, of a happy family, children, and a loving husband, as well as a successful filmmaking career. But the dream of family and the dream of a film career prove to be mutually exclusive. The director chooses her profession over having a family. The only place she can live out her dream of a family is in the film she is directing, and gradually, she begins to lose herself in it…

How does it end? Support the making of the film and find out :)