I was born in Bratislava, a city in the former Czechoslovakia, now capital of the Slovak Republic, and I have lived most of my childhood in the Slovak countryside. In 1985, my mother and I went on a vacation to Yugoslavia and successfully escaped from Czechoslovakia's socialist regime by cutting through a forest section along the Austrian border. We landed in a small village and then settled in Vienna where waited until we received our Canadian visa.

I've lived in Ottawa since 1986, although I have traveled frequently through Europe, The US and visited countries such as India, China and Japan. I have also revisited my family in Slovakia on several occasions - in 1992, I spent a whole year in Martin with my aunt, uncle and cousins. That year was a point of awakening for me after many years of conflict with my stepfather. The mountains - hiking, skiing - going for beer after school with friends, dancing at bars and the support of a loving family gave me strength and courage.

One of my dreams is to be a filmmaker, and through my films, I want to bring people closer together. I want people to be true to themselves, and I feel that people (in Western society) have become too caught up with thinking of life in terms of things of outer value such as money, talk shows, fashion and junk food. They have forgotten that the best things in life are free.

When I was young, I found my way of escape through material dreams as well - space stations, future cities, computers, technology and power - however, once I reached puberty, I found out that none of those things could possibly give me as much pleasure and excitement as a contact with another human being and being in touch with nature. There is a quote from one of Joseph Campbell's books which I am currently reading that goes:

"I admire those cold proud beings who adventure upon the paths of great and daemonic beauty and despise 'mankind'; but I don't envy them. For if anything is capable of making a poet a literary man, it is my hometown love for the human, the living and ordinary. All warmth derives from this love, all kindness and all humor."

And this is why my ideas of perfect cities controlled and maintained by technology suddenly crumbled to pieces.

The point at which this transition took part in my life was very simple and brief. All It took was one man who I saw throgh a window as he undressed at  the apartment building across the street. That was when I discovered a greater passion.

At the moment, I have no means for making films. I'm trying my best to write as often as I can and keep myself sane by spending time with my friends. They - aside from my mom and my little half-brother -  are all the wealth I have.

In the past, my interest in film has reflected in several small movie productions for community TV. At fifteen, I started editing using Sony 3/4" editing equipment and learned the basics of editing. After I returned from my year in Slovakia, I continued volunteering for cable in different areas such as camera, floor directing, mobiles, and switching. I also selected screen education and communications technology courses at my high-school. I found my teacher, Bob Godwin, very inspiring. At sixteen, my experience in television was sufficient for a Master Control position at CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, where I worked as a freelance playbak operator and online editor for almost three years. Throughout my last years of  high-school, I photographed weddings, wrote speeches, articles and formed a club which provided support for sexual minority teens and was active against homophobia.

I have just recently moved to Toronto where I plan on taking Humanities and Social Science courses at U of T. I also hope to find my place in the motion pictures industry over the next few years.

If anyone wishes to contact me, please email me at the following address: pdlab@mailcity.com