David Čálek

Czech director and cameraman

David Čálek is a Czech director and cinematographer. In 1998 he graduated from FAMU in Prague with a degree in Cinematography and 3 years later he finished Documentary Directing. He has worked as a cinematographer on feature films and documentaries (Plán a Mars by Benjamin Tuček, Mamas & Papas by Alice Nellis, Pátrání po Ester by Věra Chytilová, Kanárek with Viktor Tauš, Bezesné noci and Rychlé pohyby očí with Radim Špaček). As a director, he attracted attention with the HBO documentary Nebe peklo (2009) about a community of people – conspirators of pleasure practising various forms of pain, which was awarded at the Pilsen Finále Festival and had its international festival premiere at SXSW 2011 in Austin. David often shoots in extreme conditions – his documentary work includes Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kenya and Pakistan (Cesta vzhůru, BANFF Grand Prize in Canada).