The Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) has selected I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, a documentary feature by director Klára Tasovská, as the Czech Republic’s official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category.
The film, which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale and went on to win the Czech Lion for best documentary, explores the life and work of photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková. Built from Jarcovjáková’s private diaries and thousands of analogue photographs, the documentary traces her experiences within Czechoslovakia’s underground art scene of the 1980s, her escape to West Berlin, and her career photographing fashion icons in Tokyo.
Tasovská’s film will now enter the competitive process for Oscar consideration. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will release a 15-film shortlist on Dec. 16, with final nominations to be announced Jan. 22, 2026. The 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026.
The selection of I’m Not Everything I Want to Be follows an unfortunate bit of politicking that resulted in presumed favorite Broken Voices snubbed of a potential Oscar submission. Multiple media reports both in local and international press criticized the Czech selection process and Broken Voices‘ depiction of real-world events.
What went unreported: convicted rapist Bohumil Kulínský, whose sex abuse scandal served as the basis for Broken Voices‘ story, made several high-profile friends within the Czech film industry before his death in 2018.
Selection process and new rules
This year’s choice marks the first under updated CFTA selection rules. The process involved two rounds: in the first, the presidium committee narrowed the field to three titles—Broken Voices, Caravan, and I’m Not Everything I Want to Be—from the submissions provided by producers. Among those three films, Broken Voices was officially “recommended” by CFTA officials as the top choice.
In the second round, held from July 8 to Aug. 8, all CFTA members meeting Academy voting criteria cast ballots for the final selection. A total of 194 members participated.
Last year, the CFTA chose Jiří Mádl’s drama Waves, which advanced to the Oscars shortlist but did not secure a nomination.
The Oscar track record for Czechia (and the former Czechoslovakia) includes three wins: The Shop on Main Street (1965) by Ján Kádár and Elmar Klos, Closely Watched Trains (1967) by Jiří Menzel, and Kolya (1996) by Jan Svěrák.
Six other Czech films have been nominated for an Academy Award, including Miloš Forman’s The Loves of a Blonde (1966) and The Firemen’s Ball (1968), Menzel’s My Sweet Little Village (1986), Svěrák’s The Elementary School (1991), Jan Hřebejk’s Divided We Fall (2000), and Ondřej Trojan’s Želary (2003).
More recently, Václav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird (2019) and Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan (2020) reached the Oscar shortlist, but failed to receive a nomination.
Portrait of an uncompromising artist
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be offers an intimate, unflinching portrait of Libuše Jarcovjáková, whose work and personal life often challenged political and social norms. Her photographs document marginalized communities and moments of personal rebellion during the late communist era, revealing a perspective largely absent from the official cultural record of the time.
The film’s visual approach combines archival stills with excerpts from Jarcovjáková’s journals, allowing her voice to guide viewers through shifting geographies and eras—from smoky Prague nightclubs to the streets of Berlin and the high-fashion studios of Tokyo.
Premiering in the Berlinale’s Forum section, the documentary drew international attention for both its formal experimentation and its insight into Central European history through the lens of personal experience. The Czech Lion win in March 2025 solidified its domestic acclaim and positioned it as a strong contender for the Oscar submission.
Whether I’m Not Everything I Want to Be advances in the Oscar race will be known in December, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reveals its shortlist for the 2026 Academy Awards.
Lead photo: Still from I’m Not Everything I Want to Be © Libuše Jarcovjáková
